


Love Me Like You Hurt Me

by vostara



Series: Love Me Like You Hurt Me + Extras [1]
Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: (minor) - Freeform, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Bittersweet Ending, Chloe has a lil cameo lol, Complicated Relationships, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Heartbreak, I do my own proofreading so there might be some minor grammatical errors, Misunderstandings, Multi, Not Beta Read, Not a toxic relationship, Strained Relationships, To clarify, Tragedy, a result of poor communication, it is possible that you might interpret some moments as hinting to abuse, there is no abuse happening, this is a strained marriage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:01:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 27,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28495017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vostara/pseuds/vostara
Summary: All her life, Sabina Hewitt’s actions have revolved around finding Henry Avery’s treasure. It started with her parents, with a medallion that was found when she was a child. It drifted to her friends, to a life of exploration with the Drake Brothers. And now it continues with her husband, a man obsessed obtaining the glory that comes with its discovery.Rafe Adler x Original Female Character x Samuel Drake
Relationships: Rafe Adler/Original Female Character(s), Rafe Adler/Original Female Character(s)/Samuel Drake, Rafe Adler/Reader, Rafe Adler/Reader/Samuel Drake, Samuel Drake/Original Female Character(s), Samuel Drake/Reader
Series: Love Me Like You Hurt Me + Extras [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2109813
Comments: 6
Kudos: 10





	1. i don't judge you, i never have

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> blurb: "Because I wanted you!"

**September 1991**  


A woman shouts, “Sabina!”

The young girl is sitting on the porch, her body tucked away into one of the corners. Her knees are pulled up in front of her, shielding her body from the police officers that are surveying the area. Tiny hands are pressed against her chest, clutching an object tightly between the fingers. She is dressed in a soft pink nightgown, stained with splotches of drying blood. A large blue blanket is draped over her shoulders, dulling her to the chill of the midnight air. Sabina is barely able to process the sound, the noise. The chattering from those surrounding her seem to be just a muffled whisper to her ears. 

“Oh, my god,” the heels of the woman’s stilettos crash against the cobblestone pavement. She rushes towards Sabina, shoving her way through civilian bystanders and police barricades. “Sabina, what happened? Are you okay?”

A tall male officer steps in front of the woman, holding an arm up to block her approach. “Ma’am,” he says, “I need you to step back and stand on the other side of the barricade.”

“I’m a family friend,” the woman says. “Please, I need to make sure that the girl is okay.”

“The girl is fine. Now step back.”

“I would like to check up on her myself.” The woman groans, frustrated. “Please, I just need a minute.”

“Let her through,” another officer interrupts.

“Sir, I must protest. This is an active crime scene and this woman could—”

“Contaminate the evidence, yeah, yeah,” the older man says. “Just give ‘em a minute. Poor girl has been just sitting in the corner anyway.” He takes a step closer to the woman. “Listen, you can check up on her, but I’m only giving you a couple of minutes. And don’t even think about entering the house or touching anything. You stay on that porch, that’s it. Understood?”

“Thank you,” the woman says. She moves to step around the first officer, but the older man stops her again. “Sir?”

“I’m gonna need your name first.”

“Of course,” she gives him a grimaced smile. “Mary Smith.”

“And how do you know the family?”

“Through business. We’re all archeologists,” Mary explains. “We all happen to be interested in the same types of artifacts. I met Angie at a work-related convention years ago.”

“Uh huh,” the older officer nods. “Is there anyone you can think of that would want to harm the Hewitt family?”

Mary shakes her head. “We just look at old junk from civilizations that are long gone. Most of it is just historically valuable and wouldn’t be worth anything to those outside of the archeological field. I mean, what would you do with a three thousand year old bowl?”

“Thanks, ma’am, for your cooperation.” The officer pulls out a notepad from his pocket and scribbles down a few words. “You can go see the kid. Just know that she’s a bit shaken up, won’t talk to anyone. And she hasn’t moved an inch from that spot since she sat down. Paramedics have already done an examination to check for injuries. She’s fine, physically.”

Mary nods, “Thank you, for the head’s up.” She walks through the officers and steps onto the porch. “Sabina,” she says. She takes a few steps closer to the girl, before kneeling down in front of her. Mary lifts a hand to brush against Sabina’s shoulder, but the girl flinches and pulls even further away. “Sabina, are you okay?”

The child does not respond.

“Are you hurt?”

Again, silence.

Mary glances at Sabina’s fists. Her eyes trace the thin gold chain that is tangled around her fingers. Both the chain and her skin are matted with dried blood. “Sweetie,” Mary says, “what are you holding? What’s in your hands?”

Sabina ignores her.

“Is it your father’s necklace?” Mary prods. “Is it that golden disc that he always wears nowadays? You know, that puzzle that he spends all of his time fiddling with?”

It’s a subtle action, but the girl’s grasp on the object tightens.

“May I see it?” Mary asks.

Sabina shakes her head.

The woman frowns, but reaches forward anyway.

When Sabina feels the woman’s fingertips brushing against the golden chain, she slides her body away from the woman and presses herself into a new corner of the porch. “No!” She screams.

“Sabina,” the woman snaps. “Give it to me.”

“No!”

“I won’t ask you again, sweetie.” Mary holds out her hand, palm face up. “Give me the necklace.”

“It’s mine!” Sabina screams. _“Mine!”_

“Give me the fucking necklace, you little shit.” Mary lunges forward, grabbing onto the child’s hands.

“Don’t touch me! Don’t touch me! Don’t touch me!” Sabina leans back and lifts her legs. She slams her feet against the woman’s face and chest, attempting to push her away.

“Ma’am, let go of the child!” A female officer says. She reaches for the firearm on her belt and pulls it out of its holster. The officer aims the gun at Mary’s head.

“Your fucking useless parents stole it from me. Give it—”

“Ma’am, step away from the girl. Right now.”

The first police officer from earlier steps in. He wraps his fingers around one of Mary’s arms and throws her off of the child. “Alright, ma’am, I’m placing you under arrest.”

“Tell that shithead kid to give me that necklace or I’ll kill her.”

“Was that a threat, miss?” The female officer asks.

Mary doesn’t respond. She is silent when she is flipped onto her stomach, merely glaring at them as her wrists are handcuffed behind her back. As the first officer pulls her up off of the ground, she turns her head back to look at Sabina. “You can’t hide the medallion forever,” she hisses.

**October 1999**  


For a morning in late autumn, it is unseasonably warm and humid in Boston. Sabina frowns at the permanent layer of sticky moisture coating her exposed arms and legs. One of her hands is curled around a now cold cup of coffee, while the other taps her short fingernails against the wooden table. Her eyes are focused on the window in front of her, watching as people are hustling about in their daily lives.

She has been sitting in this coffee shop for approximately an hour, waiting for a specific man to make an appearance. Sabina has been attempting to track him down for months now, trading and begging people for a morsel of any relevant information that they were willing to give. Her latest tip had told her that the man frequents a tiny hole-in-the-wall coffee shop, tucked away from the main street.

The door of the shop opens and Sabina blinks as her eyes focus on the tall man that enters. His brunette hair is lightly slicked back, away from his face. Dark brown eyes are focused on the female barista and he throws her a charming, flirtatious smile.

“I was getting worried that you weren’t going to show up,” the barista jokes.

“And miss the chance to see you?” He says. “Never.”

“Keep up on that kind of talk and I’ll start to think you’re falling for me.”

The man laughs, “You never know.” He pulls out his wallet and places some cash on the counter.

“The usual?” The barista asks.

“Yep.”

She puts the cash inside of the register and moves to prepare the order. A couple of minutes later, she returns with two styrofoam cups in her hands. “Two medium black coffees,” she says with a smile.

“Thanks,” the man replies. He gives her one last smile, before grabbing his order and leaving the store.

Sabina takes a deep breath and waits a few moments. Then she stands up, tosses her ignored coffee into a trashcan, and proceeds to exit through the same door. She follows the man down the street, making sure to lag just far enough behind that she will not be easily noticed, while also keeping him within her sights.

After a ten minute walk, he turns right to enter an alleyway.

The woman pauses, glancing around the area, before following him. The alleyway is long and crowded with abandoned trash tipping out of the bins. Sabina walks all the way down the space, until she meets a dead end. She frowns, confused, and glances back down the way she came. Where did he go? Had he noticed her? Given her the slip? Sabina turns to walk back. She had passed by two doors on her way down, perhaps he had entered one of the buildings.

“You’re actually not that bad at tailing people,” a voice says. “Most people never would’ve noticed you.”

Sabina gasps and whips around to see where the voice is coming from. The man from the coffee shop is leaning against a brick wall.

“I thought about leaving you behind, giving you the slip in some big crowd. But… I couldn’t help my curiosity.” He steps toward her, a crooked smile on his face. “Why are you following me?”

Sabina rolls back her shoulders, straightens her posture. “Are you Samuel Drake?”

“I have a feeling you already know the answer to that,” he says.

“I’m looking for the Drake brothers,” the woman responds. “There’s something I’d like to discuss with them. A possible business opportunity, a proposition.”

“Who’s asking?”

“My name is Sabina Hewitt.”

Samuel gives her a polite smile. “Never heard of you,” he shrugs his shoulders. “I’m not interested.” The man walks towards the exit of the alleyway, brushing past Sabina.

“Mr. Drake,” she calls out.

He pauses in his stride, turning an ear in her direction.

“You’ll want to reconsider your answer.”

“And why’s that?”

“I’ve heard that you’re quite the fan of Henry Avery,” Sabina says. “In fact, you have spent years obsessively looking for his long lost treasure.”

Samuel faces Sabina, one eyebrow quirked up in interest. “You’ve been asking about me.”

“I am in possession of something that you might find very, very interesting, Mr. Drake. And I would like to share it with you, but only if you are willing to talk.”

“Follow me,” the man says.

**November 2015**  


Sabina sighs, staring at the marbled floor of the penthouse suite. She runs the palms of her manicured hands along the soft velvet of her black gown, smoothing down the material. Long, loose brunette curls are pulled into a voluminous ponytail, allowing her large diamond earrings to be on full display.

Yesterday, she had arrived in Italy, with plans for attending an exclusion auction with pretentious rich snobs. Making an appearance at black market events was far from favorable, an activity she has attempted to distance herself from. Sabina wanted to break those ties, to purge her life of blackmail and dirty money. But her husband had lectured her on appearances, insisting that less questions would be asked if they show up together. All she needed to do was stand there and look pretty, while holding onto his arm.

“Sabina,” a man says. “You ready? The car should be here soon.”

The woman stands. She flinches when she hears the way her heels hit the marble, the way it echoes in the almost lifeless room. “Yes,” she responds.

Her husband enters the room, dressed in a white and black tux. “You look perfect,” he says, smiling. He approaches her and leans down to press a kiss against her cheek.

Sabina gives him a small smile in return, but the response fails to reflect in her eyes.

The man frowns. “Is something wrong?”

“Rafe,” Sabina hesitates, “I need to ask you something.”

Her husband, Rafe Adler, pulls away to look at her. “Yes?”

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier that you’ve partnered up with Nadine Ross?”

“Why does it matter?”

Sabina swallows. “I assumed that this would have been something up for discussion.”

“Honey,” Rafe says, “I just didn’t that it was necessary to tell you. It’s business.”

“No,” she shakes her head. “That’s not a good enough answer. You excluded me, on purpose.”

“Don’t be dramatic.”

“I’m not!” Sabina says. “You told me that we would find Avery’s treasure, together. That we were partners. You don’t cut your partners out of decisions like this.”

Rafe rolls his eyes. “We needed the men.”

“How does needing a labor workforce for digging equate to hiring a bunch of mercenaries?”

He doesn’t respond.

“I’m an archeologist,” Sabina continues. “If we needed men for manual labor, I already have all of the connections we need. With a snap of my fingers, we could’ve been digging the next day with fifty people.”

“Your connections ask too many questions,” the man comments.

“Your connections involve murder-for-hire.”

“Nadine Ross provides us with more than just labor,” Rafe says. “She gives us connections to resources that would’ve been out of our reach if we did things your way.”

“You’re such a liar. Nothing is out of reach for you, not with pockets like yours.”

“Pockets like mine, huh?” Her husband laughs.

“I’m not stupid,” Sabina sighs. “Have you forgotten that I’ve been by your side for over a decade? That I’m well aware of your business and personal connections? You’re not a saint, Rafe. You can’t hide that from me. I know that you’ve got more than enough money to compensate for whatever connections Ross claims to have. We don’t need her.”

“Sabina—” 

“I don’t like the idea of working with mercenaries.”

“You knew about my family when you married me,” Rafe says. “You knew about my lifestyle. You picked this life—”

“I was young and—”

“—you made your choice. You’re not perfect, Sabina. You were lying, cheating, and stealing long before you ever met me.”

“I’ve tried really hard to move on from my past.” Sabina clenches her fists.

“You think that you can repent?” Rafe says. “That you could ever truly become a good person? Look around you! Look at this life of luxury that I have given you! Isn’t this what you wanted? To be spoiled? Pampered?”

“You’re being unfair,” she says. “I never asked for all of this.”

“Then why did you marry me?”

“Because I wanted you!” She takes a cautious step towards Rafe. “All I wanted was to be with you! To spend the rest of my life with you.”

“Sabina,” the man sighs, shaking his head. “I don’t even understand why you’re so upset right now. Why you even care about this. You’ve been beyond disinterested in Avery’s treasure for the past three years. I’m the one pulling all the strings, doing all of the legwork. I can barely get you to glance over the material long enough for you to even process what you’re seeing.”

“Rafe—”

“No,” he interrupts. “If you want me to treat you like a partner in this, you need to act like one.”

“Rafe—”

“At least with Shoreline, they do as they’re told. They get the work done and don’t ask questions.”

“Rafe—”

“What?” He snaps.

Sabina wraps her fingers around the gold chain on her neck and pulls it over her head. She reaches out for Rafe’s hand and places a medallion in his palm. “I solved it,” she says.

“You what?”

“I solved it.”

He furrows his brows, then brushes his fingers against the bumpy surface of the object. “When?”

“About three years ago,” Sabina says.

Rafe sighs. “And what was the answer?”

“It was never a clue,” Sabina takes a step closer to Rafe and presses a hand against his chest. “It’s a warning. _The treasure you seek will only bring death._ I don’t think Avery made this; I doubt he’s ever even touched it.”

“What?”

“His sigil is there and it dates back to the correct timeframe, but the message doesn’t make sense if Avery wrote it. I think someone else knew about where the treasure was. I think they made this to send people on a wild goose chase, to prevent them from figuring out where to go.”

The man pulls away from Sabina, frowning. “You want to yell at me for not telling you earlier about Ross, but you’ve been sitting on this information for three years? Really?”

“I’m sorry,” Sabina says. “I wanted to tell you, but—”

“But what?”

“I’ve spent two decades of my life trying to figure out this stupid puzzle. Just to find out that it’s utterly useless. I couldn’t bring myself to tell you—I didn’t want to admit—that this was all just a waste of time.” She takes a deep breath. “You’re obsessed with Avery’s treasure. I couldn’t ruin this for you.”

“Sit down,” Rafe tilts his head towards the sofa.

Sabina hesitates, but does as she’s told.

“There’s another Saint Dismas cross, identical to the one we found in Panama,” he says. “We’re going to the Rossi Estate because it’s up for auction tonight. I am not going to fire Shoreline, like you are asking. Ross was the one who helped me track it down. This is the most progress we’ve made in years.”

“What if it’s another dead end?” She says.

“I have a good feeling about this.”

“I can’t keep doing this,” Sabina shakes her head. “I can’t keep following a never-ending spiral of clues that lead to dead ends. Maybe we should just let it go, Rafe. Maybe this treasure was never meant to be found, maybe it shouldn’t be.”

“We are so close, honey.” Rafe reaches out to grab his wife’s hand. “We’re going to find it, I know it.”

“I’ve already lost so many people. I don’t want to lose you, too.”

“You won’t,” he says. “Trust me.”

**October 1999**  


Sabina follows Samuel into the foyer of a rundown hotel, with cracks in the windows and an out-of-service elevator. She follows him up five flights of stairs, frowning at the cockroaches running across the deteriorating wood, and down a hallway that is lit only by slivers of sunlight that peaks through the covered windows.

“Right,” Sabina says. “Is this the part where you kill me?”

“Oh, come on,” Samuel laughs. “I’m sure you’ve seen worse.”

“Any worse and I’d be convinced that I’d died and gone to Hell.”

The man huffs, almost offended, “It’s temporary.”

“Is there a lull in business?”

“Something like that.” Samuel mutters. “Hey, would you mind holding this for a sec?” He holds one of the cups of coffee out towards Sabina.

“Sure,” she says.

With his hand free, Samuel digs into his pocket and pulls out a silver key. He unlocks the door, twists the knob, and then takes the cup away from Sabina as he enters the room.

“Finally, you’re back,” a man greets. “I was starting to think that that barista you always hit on couldn’t take it anymore and decided to kill you.”

“Ha ha,” Samuel says, “very funny.”

Sabina steps into the room and her eyes dart towards the man sitting on the haphazardly made bed. Open notebooks and loose papers are scattered on top of the alarmingly off-white sheets, but his gaze is focused on a small wooden figurine held between his fingers. “I think I’m onto something,” he says.

“Nathan,” Samuel calls.

“It’s part of a set,” he continues. “One of five pieces. If we can track down the other four—I think one is in Argentina—then we can start piecing it together. You know how this whole thing can come apart, right? I think we have to undo all of the figurines and put them back together in a different order.”

“Great, I’m glad you’ve got that sorted—”

“You seem incredibly un… happy,” Nathan’s voice trails off when he finally tears his gaze away from the wooden figure. As he looks at Sabina, he quirks an eyebrow, while his lips pull down into a small frown. “Hi there,” he says, unsure.

“Nathan, this is Sabina Hewitt,” Samuel gestures to the woman. “Sabina, meet Nathan, the other Drake.”

“Hello,” Sabina smiles. “Glad to make your acquittance, finally.”

“Finally?” Nathan responds.

“Well, Miss Hewitt,” Samuel says. He hands one of the coffees to Nathan, before sitting down in a faux leather burgundy armchair that’s coated in scuff marks. “You wanted to talk. Let’s talk.”

“Right,” Sabina says. “Mr. Drake—”

“Just call me Sam.”

“Sam,” she corrects, “I am in possession of a necklace that I think you and your brother would be very interested in examining.”

“Go on.”

“I suspect that it could be a clue about where Henry Avery buried his treasure.”

Nathan perks up. “What?”

“Where did you find it?” Sam asks.

“I didn’t,” she says. “It happens to be more of a family trinket, of sorts.” Sabina reaches for the gold chain around her neck. She pulls it up from underneath her shirt, revealing a large golden medallion. It is made from four rotating discs, held together by a skull and crossbones sigil in the center. Though the object is relatively smooth to the touch, worn down from years of erosion, there are ridges where symbols are engraved into the metal.

Nathan stands up from the bed and takes a curious, cautious step towards the woman. “Of sorts?” He slightly leans forward for a closer examination of the object.

“My parents found it when I was a child. I don’t know where they got it from.”

Sam quirks an eyebrow. “You never asked?”

“Didn’t have the chance,” Sabina says. “They’re dead.”

“Oh.”

“I’m sorry to hear—”

Sabina interrupts Nathan before he can finish his sentence. “What I do know is that my parents were looking for Avery’s treasure. They spent years and years attempting to find a single useful clue. They found whatever this thing is not too long before their deaths.”

“Have you shown it to anyone else?” Sam asks.

Sabina shakes her head.

“So, how do you even know if it’s legitimate?”

The woman rolls her eyes. She lets go of the medallion, reaching for the bottom hem of her black shirt. She pulls it up, beginning to expose the skin beneath.

“Whoa, wait,” Nathan says, taking a step back. “What are you doing?”

“Hey, don’t stop her,” Sam protests. “Lady wants to show us something.”

Sabina ignores them and lifts her shirt up to her chest, revealing multiple scars across her abdomen.

Instead of looking at them, Sam’s gaze is immediately focused on the tattoo of flying birds beneath her left breast. “Nice ink,” he comments.

“Sam, really?” Nathan groans.

“I’ve been stabbed by five different people,” Sabina explains. “And all of them are after the same thing: the medallion.”

Sam whistles. “You are either incredibly lucky or extremely unlucky.”

“I’d say a bit of both, really.”

“But why come to us?” Nathan asks. “Two people you’ve never even met before.”

“It’s no secret that you guys are the Avery experts.” Sabina pulls down the fabric, concealing her flesh. She ignores the not-so-subtle disappoint on Sam’s face. “Everyone knows that you’re looking for this treasure. I figured that if anyone knew anything, it would be you two.”

“Would you mind if we take a closer look at it?” Nathan points a finger at the medallion.

Sabina covers it with her hand. “I want in,” she says.

“In?”

“If this is actually related to Avery’s treasure, I wanna hop on the ride.”

In synch, the Drake brothers turn their heads to look at each other.

“I don’t care about the money,” Sabina continues. “If you only want to give me a sliver of the cut, whatever. I just wanna see the treasure for myself.”

Sam laughs. “If you just want to see it, we can show you after we’ve found it. Then we wouldn’t even need to give you a cut.”

The woman’s grip on the medallion tightens. “Please,” she says. “I’ve spent over half my life running away from people that are willing to kill me for this thing. I think I deserve to experience the thrill of actually discovering the treasure, not just looking at pieces of it later on.”

“I mean,” Nathan shrugs, “she makes a valid argument.”

“Alright,” Sam hums. “Ten percent.”

“Really?” The younger Drake retorts.

“What?”

“I think she deserves a little bit more in compensation.”

Sam rolls his eyes, “Fifteen.”

“Thirty.”

“Twenty-five.” Sam turns his gaze back towards Sabina, “but only if that medallion actually helps us out.”

“Deal,” Sabina says.

**November 2015**  


Sabina takes a sip from her glass of white wine, bored beyond belief. For the past half hour, Rafe has been trapped in a conversation. While trying to impress her husband with tales of riches and grandeur, the other man has failed to notice the glazed expression sewn into Rafe’s features. Her husband was fully aware of the man’s lies, aware of how he only told half-truths, embellishing words that are spit through his fake teeth.

Sabina and Rafe already know everything of interest about this man, Laurent Toussaint. He was nothing more than a rich prick with mediocre accomplishments and a beautiful gold digging wife. The couple knows about how he has a habit of showering several prostitutes with mountains of money. And they know about how these sex workers would laugh amongst each other about the man’s lack of size and stamina. 

Sabina had even managed to befriend the gold digging wife. When she had questioned her about the husband’s well-known “secret,” the woman had laughed in response.

 _They’re doing me a favor,_ she said. _The more he touches the whores, the less he touches me. God, I hope he dies soon. You know, the doctor thought he was going to drop dead about five years ago, but the fucking bastard lived. Just my luck, huh?_  


It had been an amusing conversation, to say the least.

“Why don’t you and the wife join us in Milan?” Laurent says. “Just for a few days, huh? You’ve never been to one of my parties. Our penthouse is magnificent.”

“A bit short notice for an invitation,” Rafe responds.

The men were conversing in French. Though Sabina understood it fluently, she and Rafe had decided that it was best if she pretends that she doesn’t. After all, it’s much easier to eavesdrop on a conversation when people believe you to be illiterate in that language.

“Just buy her something pretty,” Laurent insists. “Stick a big jewel in a woman’s face and she won’t ask questions.”

Rafe chuckles and turns his attention to Sabina. “Honey,” he speaks in English, “how would you feel about a trip to Milan for a few days? Laurent wants to throw us a party.”

“I’d prefer a quiet getaway to Florence,” she replies. “Just the two of us.”

Her husband shrugs, “You heard her.”

“C’mon,” Laurent chuckles, “don’t be so boring.”

Sabina gives the man a polite smile, before downing her last sips of wine. “Excuse me,” she says. “I’m going to go refresh my glass before the bidding starts.” 

“I’ll go with you,” Rafe offers.

“Oh, but Rafe,” Laurent interrupts. “I was hoping to discuss a business plan with you. Can’t you spare a few more minutes?”

“I’ll be right back,” Sabina says. She leans up towards Rafe and presses a quick kiss against his cheek. 

As she approaches the bar at the other end of the room, Sabina’s heel slips on a spilled drink. The woman stumbles for a moment and then falls into a waiter that had been passing by. Her wine glass slips out of her grasp and crashes against the marble floor. The waiter’s tray tips, adding a small pile of food into the mess.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Sabina says. She crouches down to help clean up the mess, but hesitates when she realizes her glass had shattered to pieces.

The waiter kneels down to join her. “Don’t worry about it, Miss.”

“Sometimes I am just… so clumsy,” Sabina chuckles.

The waiter laughs in response, emitting a sound that seems familiar to her. When Sabina lifts her head to look at the man, she freezes. She recognizes the brunette waves that are lightly slicked back, away from the face. She knows those brown eyes that are preoccupied with the glass on the floor.

“Sam?” The name slips out before she can stop herself, hardly above a soft whisper.

But the man hears her. He freezes. And his eyes drift towards the woman.

“Sam, is that you?”

The man swallows, before plastering a smile onto his face. “I’m sorry, Miss. I think you’ve mistaken me with somebody else.” He returns his attention to cleaning up the mess.

“Of course,” Sabina nods, but then sighs. “I’m sorry, you just look like somebody that I used to know.”

“I’ve got one of those faces,” the waiter jokes.

Sabina reaches down to pick up one of the ruined hors d’oeuvres, but the man stops her, gently pushing her hand away.

“Don’t worry about the mess,” he says. “Please, enjoy the event.”

“Right,” the woman stands up and smoothes down her dress. “Thank you.”

“Enjoy your evening, Miss.”

Still distracted, Sabina continues her way towards the bar. When the bartender places a fresh glass of white wine in front of her, she thanks him before drinking half of the glass in one sip.

While heading back towards Rafe, a conversation captures her attention. She turns her head to see Nadine Ross speaking to an older man. Sabina inches towards them, recognizing the man’s voice, his mustache, and the cigar married to his hand.

“…when am I finally going to meet that partner of yours,” Nadine says, “Drake?”

“Well, that’s ex-partner,” the man responds.

Nadine hums.

“No, I’ve been flying solo for awhile now,” he continues. “Drake’s out.”

“Oh, like… ‘dead’ out?”

“Oh, no,” the man says. “More like ‘retired.’ Last I heard, he settled down, got married.”

Sabina steps into the conversation. “You wouldn’t happen to be talking about Nathan Drake, would you?”

When the man glances in her direction, a surprised smile marks his features. “Sabina?”

“I knew I recognized you,” she says. “Hello, Sully.”

“I haven’t seen you in years,” he says. He turns to look at Nadine. “It’s a miracle! All of us English speakers managed to find each other in this crowd of Italians,” he jokes.

“It’s been far too long, Sully. I’m happy to see you again.”

“Nadine Ross, I’d like you to meet Sabina Hewitt, an old friend.”

“Hewitt-Adler,” Sabina corrects. “I hyphenated.”

“And you’re a bit late with the introductions,” Nadine says. “We’ve already met.”

“What a small world,” Sully says.

Nadine’s gaze shifts between her two companions. “Indeed,” she responds.

“Surprised to see you here,” the man diverts his attention back to Sabina. “This doesn’t seem like your preferred type of crowd.”

“I could say the same to you,” Sabina retorts. “This might be your kind of crowd, but I don’t recall you being a fan of auctions.”

Sully shrugs. “I was curious about some of the items being offered and happened to some free time in my schedule.” His eyes glance down at Sabina’s hand, noticing the large diamond ring on her finger. “That’s different. Did you find a new rich prick to marry?”

Sabina laughs, playfully rolling her eyes.

“It’s an anniversary present,” Rafe says, approaching the trio. “To celebrate a decade together.” He places a hand on the small of Sabina’s back. “It’s a red diamond, an incredibly rare gem.”

“You always were a big spender,” Sully says, “especially for her.”

Rafe smiles. “Victor Sullivan! How the hell are you?”

Sully shakes the man’s hand. “Rafe,” he greets.

“How long has it been?”

“Last time I saw you was at your wedding,” Sully says.

“Damn,” Sabina says. “Nearly thirteen years ago now.”

“It’s amazing,” Rafe chuckles. “All these years gone by, here we are—we’re still haggling over dead people’s junk.”

“Really?” Sully tilts his head. “Aren’t you running your parents’ business?”

For a brief moment, Rafe’s hand tenses on Sabina’s back. “My business now,” he says. “But yes, that is my day job.”

“That is one helluva day job,” Sully laughs. “You could probably afford to buy up everything on the block tonight.”

“Well, sure,” Rafe says. “But what would be the point in that? These days I’m only looking for the… good stuff. Big scores.”

Sully hums a response.

“Any advice on what I should pick up tonight?” Rafe continues.

Sully chuckles and turns to look at Nadine. “Yeah, like I’d want to bid against him.” He leans towards Rafe. “But, just between you and me, I did notice that they changed the order. I think somebody might be trying to rig this auction.”

Rafe nods, pondering his next words. “Well, remember where we are. This crowd didn’t get rich by playing fair.”

Nadine takes a step closer to the couple, moving to stand next to Rafe. “Which is why you really need someone watching your back in a place like this,” she says.

“Ah,” Sully glances between the trio, then turns his attention back towards Nadine. “Well, I do hate to break it to ya,” he pauses, “you are working for an American.”

“With,” Nadine says, glancing at Rafe. “We’ve partnered up on this one.”

Sully’s gaze drifts to Sabina. “You sure are full of surprises tonight. Not too long ago, you would have avoided Shoreline at all costs.”

“What can I say? A lot has changed. We’ve changed.” The woman glances down at her wine glass, twirling the liquid inside. She turns her gaze towards Rafe. “We aren’t who we used to be.”

A woman’s voice echoes throughout the room. “In a few moments, we’ll begin bidding on our next item: an inlaid wooden crucifix from the Trott Estate.”

“Well,” Sully says, “I know when I’m intruding. You kids have fun tonight.”

“Just hold on, Sully,” Rafe removes his arm from Sabina and grabs onto the man’s elbow. “How’d you find out about it?”

“It? Now what ‘it’ is that, Rafe? Sabina, I think your husband here has had too many Bloody Marys—”

Rafe slaps the drink out of Sully’s hand. “Cut the bullshit, old man,” he points a finger at him. “Now I don’t know how you scammed your way in here. But if you think about bidding on Avery’s cross, I can tell you exactly how you’re going to be leaving. In a goddamn body bag.”

“Rafe!” Nadine snaps.

Sabina takes a step forward and places a hand on her husband’s back. “Listen,” she says, “I know you two have never seen eye-to-eye, but let’s all try to keep it together.” She quickly scans the room, noting the numerous stares from other attendees. “We’re drawing quite a bit of unwanted, unnecessary attention. Break it up, now, otherwise we’ll all be kicked out of here.”

Rafe pauses and then responds with a fake laugh. “Well,” he brushes off Sully’s shoulders, “you get my point.”

Sully nods. “Lovely seeing you all,” he says, before turning around to leave.

When the older man is out of earshot, Sabina moves her hand to grip onto Rafe’s elbow. “What the hell was that?”

“He knows about the cross,” he says.

“Obviously,” Sabina hisses. “There’s nothing else here that he would be interested in. I’m not talking about whether he knows, Rafe. I’m talking about you lashing out in a room full of people.”

“Oh, come on. How else would you have expected that conversation to go?”

“For starters, I hoped that you weren’t going to make a scene.”

“Could you two bicker about this later?” Nadine says. “We’ve got a more pressing matter to be concerned about right now.”

“Right,” Rafe agrees. “How did Sullivan find out about the cross?”

“Sully was never that interested in Avery’s treasure,” Sabina says, “not beyond pure financial gain. He’s smart, but there’s no way he would have figured this out on his own. Maybe, just maybe, somebody tipped him off, but it’s unlikely. Sully stopped pursuing the treasure years ago. Without… his Avery expert, there would have been no point in continuing.”

“So,” Nadine says, “you don’t think he’s working alone.”

Sabina shakes her head. “I doubt it.”

“There would be no way for him to swipe it by himself,” Rafe says, “even without the change in order. There’s just too many people for this to be a one-man job.”

“That begs the question,” Nadine pauses to take a sip from her drink. Her eyes scan the room, looking for any signs of abnormality. “Who is he working with?”

“I wouldn’t know,” Sabina responds. “Sully and I lost contact years ago. I have no idea who he’s teaming up with nowadays.”

“Keep your eyes open,” Rafe says. “We need to be prepared for whatever action he does take.”

…

Sabina keeps her eyes glued to the Saint Dismas cross. Absentmindedly, she fidgets with her hands, twisting and twisting the rings on her fingers.

“We have ninety thousand, do I hear any more bids?”

If Nate had really left the game, then who the hell was Sully even working with? Would he really be dumb enough to attempt swiping it? With everyone watching?

“Since we have no other bids,” the auctioneer continues. “Going once… Going twice…” The woman’s eyes dart to the back of the room. “Bene! We have on hundred thousand euros in the room,” she says. “Thank you. Do we have any other bids?”

Beside Sabina, Rafe tenses. He raises his bidding paddle and turns to look at his competitor.

Victor Sullivan.

“We now have one hundred ten thousand euros in the room.”

Sabina twists her diamond ring, turning her head to glance in Sully’s direction.

Sully raises his paddle, placing another bid against Rafe.

“The bid brings us to one hundred twenty,” the woman says.

Rafe raises his arm to place a new bid.

“Now the bid has reached one hundred thirty thousand.”

“What’s his plan?” Sabina whispers.

“I don’t know,” Rafe says.

Again, Sully bids against them.

“We are now at one hundred forty.”

Sabina shifts her gaze to her husband. “Is it to raise the price?”

Rafe lifts his paddle for a new bid. “What would be the point?”

“Your bid, signore,” the auctioneer says, “takes us all the way to one hundred fifty thousand euros.”

“Well,” Sabina says, “you did just have a minor altercation with him. I doubt he’s your biggest fan at the moment.”

“I shoved a drink out of his hands,” Rafe chuckles. “He’ll get over it.”

Sully bids.

“The bidding stands at one hundred sixty thousand euros in the room.”

“What if he’s genuinely attempting to outbid you?” Sabina says.

“He won’t,” Rafe responds, placing another bid.

“Signore’s bid makes one hundred seventy thousand.”

“If he’s not working alone,” Sabina says, “he might be working with someone that can afford to outbid you.”

Along with the auctioneer, others in the room turn their gaze towards Sully. He nods his head, before lifting his paddle to officially place a new bid.

“We are now at one hundred eighty thousand euros in the room,” she declares.

“He isn’t,” Rafe argues. He raises his arm to place another bid, then turns to look at Sabina, “He’s bluffing.”

“Bidding has now reached one hundred ninety thousand euros."

“And yet,” his wife says, “you keep bidding.”

Rafe frowns.

“You’re worried,” she continues.

“The gentleman’s bid: two hundred thousand euros.”

“Five hundred thousand!” Rafe shouts, raising his paddle into the air. “Let’s get this show on the road here.”

For a moment the auctioneer is stunned, but she is quick to regather her composure. “Uh… thank you,” she says. “We have five hundred thousand euros in the room.” She turns her attention in Sully’s direction. “Does the gentleman wish to bid again?”

Rafe looks over at Sully, taunting him.

Sully meets his gaze and pauses, before gesturing his surrender.

“Had me worried there for a minute, Victor,” Rafe says. “Thought I might have to kill ya!”

The crowd of bystanders laugh, some aware of the truth behind Rafe’s words.

“Anyone else?” The auctioneer continues. “We are going once… Going twice… Then I shall sell it for five hundred thousand—”

The lights go out, plunging the room into a nearly pitch black state.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” the woman says, “please remain calm. The backup power will come on shortly.”

So this was Sully’s plan.

“Rafe,” Sabina reaches for her husband’s arm, attempting to grab his attention.

But she is interrupted when the room is once again flooded with light.

Someone in the crowd shouts, “It’s gone!”

Rafe’s eyes dart to where the cross should be, only to confirm that the display is empty. He turns to look at the back of the room, just in time to see Sully disappearing through the doors. “Move it! Get out of the way!” He yells, shoving his way through the crowd. “Stop him! Hey—stop that guy!”

With a large gun in hand, a security guard steps in front of Rafe, blocking him from the door. “Fermo!” He shouts.

“What are you doing? You’re letting him get away! Do you speak—”

The guard raises his gun, pointing it at Rafe’s head. “Sparisci!” He says.

Rafe stops. He raises his arms in the air, before taking a few paces backwards. “Fine,” he steps away from the commotion, frustrated, and tosses his auction paddle onto the ground.

Sabina approaches him. “Was it Sully? What should we do?”

“Well,” Rafe mutters. “Nadine better be doing her fucking job.”

…

Nadine rolls back one of her shoulders. “They got away,” she says.

“They?” Sabina asks.

Rafe clenches his jaw. “Did you see who he’s working with?”

“I had a run in with some smart ass man,” Nadine says. “Rather generic looking. Tall. White. Brown hair.”

“It’s probably Drake,” Rafe says.

“Look,” Sabina turns to the man. “I think we should just let it go.”

“No,” Rafe shakes his head. “Absolutely not.”

“If Sully roped Nate back into this, then this isn’t worth the trouble.”

“Are you kidding me?” Nadine interrupts.

“We can compensate you for your trouble,” Sabina says.

“That doesn’t work for me,” Nadine takes a step closer to the other woman. “I’m not a simple employee, Sabina. Your husband brought me on as a partner. I am not backing down because you’re intimated by two idiots.”

“Nadine, calm down,” Rafe says. “Nothing has been agreed upon, yet.”

“Nate and Sully don’t intimidate me,” Sabina says, also taking a step closer to Nadine. “But I know them. I know exactly what they’re capable of. You may think that Nate is an idiot, but he’s a lot smarter than he looks. And Sully is incredibly resourceful, knows just about everybody.”

“Sabina,” Rafe gently grasps his wife’s arm.

“Now that they have the cross, they’ll be six steps ahead of us going forward.”

“Then we take the cross away from them,” Nadine says. “Simple.”

“They’re not just going to hand it over,” Sabina shakes her head.

Nadine smiles. “I don’t need them to. I might have to pry it out of their hands, but I’ll retrieve the artifact.”

“Oh, my god,” Sabina turns to look at Rafe. “She’s going to kill them. Is that what you want?”

Rafe sighs. “Don’t kill them, Nadine.”

“Is there an alternative plan that you’d like to propose?” She asks.

“We’ll get the cross,” he responds. “I’m not sure how, but we’ll figure it out. Right now, we need to get to Scotland. The first thing they’re going to do is head back to that cathedral, the only other clue. If we beat them to it, they’re bound to mess up somehow.”

**October 2000**  


Nate turns the rings of the medallion. “I’m pretty sure we’re missing something,” he says. The man aligns random symbols with each other, knowing that it’s unlikely to solve anything, but hoping for a miracle.

“Thanks,” Sabina says, sarcastic. “I had no idea.”

“I’m going to feel so stupid if we’re overlooking something obvious.”

Sabina leans back in her chair and releases an irritated groan. She covers her face with her hands, before sliding them back to tangle her fingers into her hair. “Maybe the symbols aren’t meant to be aligned perfectly.”

“We’ve already tried that,” Nate says.

“Try again. You probably skipped over the one combination that actually correct.”

He tosses the medallion onto the table. “You try it, then.”

“Nope,” Sabina reaches forward to push the object closer to the man. “It’s still your turn to fiddle around.”

“Are you sure you don’t know where your parents found this?”

Sabina frowns, “Really?” She gives Nate an annoyed look.

“Hey,” he defends. “I’m just double checking.”

“This is at least the thirtieth time that you’ve asked—”

“Sabina, I’m sorry—”

“—I’ve already checked their journals. Many, many, many, many times! There’s no mention of the medallion. No clue about where they might have picked it up. It’s as if they just happened to stumble right into it and never had the chance to even glance at what they found.”

“Maybe they did,” a voice interrupts.

Sam steps into the hotel room, with an unfamiliar man trailing in behind him. His brunette hair is cut short and neatly smoothed back. Sabina’s eyes drop down, away from the stranger’s face, to focus on the pristine fit of his plain black designer t-shirt and matching tailored pants.

“Everyone,” Sam gestures to the man beside him. “This is Rafe Adler. He’s going to be our ticket into prison.”

“You can’t be serious,” Sabina says.

At the same time, Nate says, “Sam, hold on a minute.”

Sabina continues, “You’re actually going through with this?”

“What choice do we have?” Sam says.

“There are plenty of other choices,” Sabina stands up from her chair. “You’re just being impatient.”

“This is our best plan,” he insists.

“No, it’s not!” She walks closer to Sam. “So many things could go wrong! One misstep and it’s game over.”

Gentle, Sam reaches out for Sabina, cupping the side of her face in the palm of his hand. “Everything is going to be fine, Bina,” he says.

“This isn’t a walk in the park,” Sabina wraps her fingers around his wrist. “This is a Panama prison.”

“How else would you propose that we get inside of Burnes’ cell?”

“That’s not the point,” Sabina says. “You could die in there! What if they don’t let you back out?”

“We’re out of options.”

“The medallion!” Sabina pulls herself away from Sam and moves to grab the object off of the table. “What if we manage to solve it? What if it gives us a clue that would bypass whatever is trapped in that tower?”

Sam raises an eyebrow. “Your plan involves finally solving a puzzle that we’ve been working on for a year?”

“Nate and I have been making progress. Isn’t that right, Nate?”

The man rubs the back of his neck, hesitating to speak. “Well…”

Rafe steps further into the room. “What medallion?” He asks.

“Don’t worry about the medallion,” Sam turns to look at him. “It’s irrelevant.”

“It’s not irrelevant,” Sabina says. “It’s an alternative.”

Sam sighs. “Who says we can’t do both?”

“What?”

“You work on the puzzle, while we get smuggled into prison and up to that tower.”

“One of these plans involves weaving your way through a clusterfuck of factors that could go wrong,” Sabina says.

“I think you’re exaggerating things a little bit,” Rafe steps in. “Bribing our way through is going to be easy. In a prison like that those guards will overlook anything for a decent payday, trust me.”

“Trust you?” Sabina scoffs. “Why would we do that?”

“Because—”

“—you’re the strange guy with money to burn?”

“Hey,” the man says. “I’ll be in there with them. It’s not like I’m entirely risk-free in this scenario.”

“Why is a trust-fund kid like you even interested in the treasure?” Sabina walks up to him. “Mommy and Daddy don’t spoil you enough?”

“Bina, that’s enough!” Sam wraps an arm around the woman’s waist and pulls her tight against his body, away from Rafe. “Calm down!”

A cloud of silence falls over the room. Sabina shoves Sam’s arm off of her and glares at the newcomer. She moves to sit back down on her previously occupied chair and inhales a deep breath of air.

After a few moments, she disrupts the quiet. “What if the guards aren’t as corrupt as you think?” 

“We’re talking about a shitty prison in Panama,” Rafe says. “Money can go a long way there.”

“Then what if the guards are more corrupt than you think?” She counters. “What if they take the money, but fail to uphold their end of the deal? Who knows how long you’ll be trapped in there.”

“She has a point,” Nate says. “Once we’re inside, we’ll be at their mercy for a way out.”

Rafe shrugs, waving a hand in the air. “If they demand more money, I’ll give it to them.”

“And if they demand too much?” Sabina says. “If the price for all three of you gets too high, will you choose to only save yourself?”

“Bina,” Sam sighs.

“It’s a valid question,” Rafe says. “I get it. I’m the new guy here, the intruder. You care about these two, I can’t fault you for that. You’re uncomfortable, unsure about whether you can rely on a complete stranger to uphold their end of the deal and keep your friends safe. I’d be skeptical, too, if I were you.”

“Then tell me why I should believe you,” Sabina says.

“When I make a deal with someone,” Rafe smiles, “I don’t turn my back on them.”

“It’s going to be okay,” Sam says. “We’ve got this. Nathan and I have been through worse.”

“Not sure I’d agree with that,” Nate mutters.

Sabina shakes her head. “I still don’t like this.”

“Listen, we’re gonna make our way into that tower and grab whatever is hidden up there. It’s gonna be easy,” Sam reassures. “Before you know it, we’ll all be swimming in four hundred million dollars worth of lost treasure. That prison will be a distant memory.”

“Promise me that you’ll make it back,” Sabina says, “alive.”

Sam gives her a cocky grin. “I promise.”

**November 2015**  


Sabina trails after Rafe, struggling to keep up with the man as he strides down the stone hallway. He pushes open a large wooden door and enters a room.

“…what about the southern perimeter?” Nadine says.

“Not yet,” one of her mercenaries replies. “It’d take us a day to move the crane over there.”

“Nadine,” Rafe says.

The woman turns to look at him. She lifts a hand, a silent request for Rafe to wait, and then looks back at the mercenary. “Make it happen,” she tells him. “In the meantime, see what you can dig up without it.”

Sabina steps into the cold room and subconsciously gravitates towards a standing position in the corner. For the past several hours, Rafe’s irritation has been festering beneath his skin, and Sabina wasn’t in the mood to be standing too close by when he finally snaps.

“I’ll send a couple of men over right away,” the man says.

“Good.” Nadine turns her attention to the other man in the room. “Rafe, any luck with those manuscripts?”

He glances over at her, but ignores the question. “Can we have a minute?”

“Keep me updated,” she says to the mercenary, before tilting her head towards the door.

“Yes, ma’am,” he says.

When the mercenary exits, closing the door behind him, Nadine speaks again. “Did you hear? They found a whole annexed area under the cathedral.”

“I did,” Rafe says. “Have you seen it?”

The woman sits down on the edge of the table. “No. Why?”

Rafe turns to Nadine. “Because there wasn’t much left,” he says, approaching her. “After they’d finished ‘finding’ it.”

Nadine sighs. “My men have been a bit liberal with the dynamite.”

“They’re like a hundred well-armed bulls in a china shop.”

“—but they’ve made more progress in two days than we’ve made in months,” she interrupts.

“Progress?” Rafe scoffs. “I can’t analyze rubble.”

“Ms. Ross,” Sabina says, “Avery loved his puzzles. Finding his treasure is an endless maze. If we blow up all of the clues, we can’t find the right path. We just need your men to take it down a few notches, work under a bit more restraint.”

The woman responds with a quiet laugh. “Okay,” she says, standing up. “Okay.”

“Thank you,” Rafe says.

“I’ll let them know to give you a heads up before they do anything drastic,” she says.

Rafe pauses. “Or you can tell them to sit tight until I analyze the few clues that haven’t been blown up.”

“No,” Nadine shakes her head. “We can’t sit around waiting any longer.”

“All due respect, I think I have a bit more experience with this sort of thing than you do.”

“We tried things your way,” she says.

“Bullshit,” Rafe says. “You’ve been wanting to level this place ever since we got here.”

Nadine furrows her brows. “No,” she argues. “I wanted to steal that cross long before it ever even made it to that auction. The same auction where I couldn’t have my men around to deal with any surprises.”

“—the auction was the cleanest way to get the cross—”

“—but instead of going with my gut, I listened to you,” she shouts. “And now we have competition.”

“Well, I didn’t think he’d show up!” Rafe says.

Nadine pauses before responding, “Or maybe you wanted to draw him out.”

“Why—” the man laughs, “Why the hell would I do that?”

“Because you think you need him,” she says. “And maybe you do. Point is, I’m done trying to do things the clean way. If the treasure is here, we’ll find it. And if not, well… maybe it’s time to move on, huh?” She looks over at him.

Rafe straightens his posture, frowning.

“It’s not personal,” she continues. She taps a hand on Rafe’s shoulder, before walking towards the door.

“Of course,” he responds.

When Nadine exits the room, Rafe shoves the papers off of the table and slams his fists against the stone. Unnoticed, Sabina steps away from her corner and slips out of the room. She follows Nadine down the hallway.

“Ms. Ross,” she calls out.

Nadine stops, turning to look back at her.

“Listen,” Sabina says, “I know that my husband can be difficult to work with. He’s arrogant and stubborn and—”

“Seems like a real catch,” Nadine says, sarcastic.

Sabina sighs. “It’s not that we don’t appreciate the help—”

“This isn’t me helping you,” Nadine interrupts. “No, this is me doing my job. Doing what I’ve been paid for. I’m here for my cut of the treasure, not out of the kindness of my heart.”

“Have I done something to upset you?”

Nadine folds her arms against her chest. “What?”

“I don’t want to fight you,” Sabina says. “If we could all just learn to work together, to come to some sort of agreement—”

“I know you’re pissed that Rafe is working with me.”

“I’m not upset about you, specifically,” Sabina clarifies. “I’m upset that he went behind my back and hired Shoreline.”

“Well,” Nadine says. “Shoreline and I happen to be a package deal.”

“Look—I didn’t want to hire an army of mercenaries, okay? I’m sorry if that offends you, but that’s the truth,” Sabina says. “But that doesn’t matter anymore, alright? He already hired you and your men and now we’re all here trying to find this fucking treasure. So, either we’re all working together, or against each other. Personally, I prefer the first option.”

“Oh,” Nadine laughs.

“What? What’s so funny?”

“I was wrong about you,” she says. “I assumed you were nothing more than a submissive little gold digging trophy wife. But you’re much more than that, aren’t you?”

“I’m at least flattered that you think I look like a trophy wife,” Sabina says.

“Between the two of you,” Nadine continues, “you’re probably the real Avery expert here.”

“Maybe,” Sabina shrugs. “I’ve known about Avery and his treasure for longer than he has.”

“Did you marry him for the money?”

“Excuse me?”

“It’s okay,” Nadine chuckles. “You can answer the question. It’ll be our little secret.”

“That’s hardly an appropriate question, Ms. Ross.”

“And that is far from a direct answer.”

“Please,” Sabina says. “Tell your men to lay off the explosions for a little bit. Give Rafe and I enough time to analyze and hopefully decipher what we’ve already got.”

Nadine hums. “I’ll tell them to slow down, but I’m tired of Rafe’s slow and steady pace. We’re approaching this the way I want to.”

“Sure,” Sabina says. “Let’s agree on that, for now.”

 **December 2000**  


While the boys smuggled themselves into and out of the Panama prison, Sabina had been sent off to Costa Rica. Sam, with the help of Rafe’s money, had booked her an expensive hotel room. A splurge to distract her from her growing fear that she would never see the Drakes again.

She’s been here for more than a week already, passing the time by fiddling with the medallion and stuffing her face with the local cuisine. At first, it had been easy to keep herself distracted. How could she not enjoy a private balcony and a functioning air conditioner? In her year spent with the Drakes, time to herself was scarce and sporadic. But she was beginning to miss the way Nate would confidently walk straight into a low-hanging tree branch whenever he was looking in a completely different direction. She even missed the way Sam would make fun of her, after he had to boost her up and over a tall fence or broken wall.

In the middle of the night, a series of loud knocks against the hotel room door pulls Sabina out of her restless slumber. She throws the white cotton sheets off of her body and stumbles out of the bed to rush to the door.

She pulls it open and sees Nate standing there. There are a few minor cuts on his cheeks and a large, dark bruise surrounds his right eye. “Nate,” Sabina exclaims. “Oh, my god, what happened? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” he mumbles. He gently urges her out of the way and enters the room.

Rafe steps in behind him.

Sabina frowns. “Where’s Sam?”

Neither of the men respond.

“Did you get split up?” She asks.

“Sam didn’t make it out,” Rafe says.

“He’s still there?” She blinks, confused. “You guys left him there?”

Rafe shakes his head. “That’s not—”

“What is wrong with you?” Sabina’s voice breaks. “Why would you leave him behind?” She runs past Rafe, making her way to the hotel’s phone. “I’ll call Sully,” she says. “Somebody has to go back for him and it can’t be either of you because the guards already know your faces and it’ll be too suspicious and—”

“Sabina,” Nate approaches her and pulls the phone of her fingers.

“Nate, what are you doing?” She protests, attempting to take back the phone.

“Sam’s dead,” he says.

“No,” she shakes her head.

“We were escaping the prison and—” Nate stops speaking, words trapped in his throat.

“No.”

“He was shot,” Rafe says. “And then he fell from a building. There was nothing we could do.”

Sabina turns to look at him. “I thought Vargas was supposed to let you out,” she says. “What happened?”

“Vargas wanted to make a new deal.”

“Didn’t I tell you this was going to happen?” Sabina sits down in an armchair near the balcony doors. After a minute, she speaks, “Rafe, I thought you said that you would pay for a raise in price. But it sounds like you’re telling me that you didn’t take the new deal.”

“No,” Rafe confirms. “We didn’t.”

“Yeah, you made that pretty clear when you stabbed the man,” Nate says.

“You stabbed him?” Sabina shouts. “What the fuck were you thinking?”

“What would you have preferred, Nate?” Rafe says, ignoring her.

“Not stabbing him would have been a great start!”

“And let him walk all over us? That third-world thug? You were really going to roll over and hand him an equal share of the cut?” Rafe responds.

“An equal share?” Sabina asks. “Of what? Avery’s treasure?”

“Vargas read the letter,” Nate explains.

“You guys told him not to read the package, right?”

“He didn’t seem particularly keen about following instructions.”

“Why don’t you ever listen to me? Right from the start, this was a horrible plan,” Sabina says.

Nate turns to look at her. “And I agreed with you! But, Sam—”

“It doesn’t matter now,” Rafe says. “We can’t go back and fix it.”

“Don’t give me that bullshit,” Nate says. “This is all your fault and you know it. All we had to do was agree to the new deal, but you took it upon yourself to murder a prison guard, in the fucking prison he works in.”

“There was no time to discuss a plan. I made a decision that, at the time, I felt was going to benefit all of us.”

“Great decision making skills, absolutely stellar.”

“Shut up!” Sabina says. “Both of you. Just… shut up.”

The men fall silent.

“Did you find anything in the tower?” Sabina asks.

“Are you serious right now?” Nate says. “Sam’s dead.”

“As much as I don’t want to admit it, Rafe’s right,” she says, while twisting a ring on her right hand. “The only thing we can do right now is move forward. If we give up on the treasure now, then all of this was for nothing. I can’t do that, Nate. I don’t want to. We need to see this to the end, for Sam.”

Nate sighs. “For Sam,” he agrees.

“There was a crucifix in the tower,” Rafe says.

“Not a crucifix,” Nate corrects. He pulls an object out of his back pocket and hands it to Sabina. A well-made wooden cross with silver trim and a golden figure attached on the front. “The man on the cross isn’t Jesus.”

Sabina’s eyes dart to the figure’s head, noting the missing crown of thorns. The man’s hands were also tied, not nailed, to the cross. “Do you know who he is?”

“I think it’s Saint Dismas.”

“The penitent thief?”

“Jesus,” Rafe says, “is everyone here an expert on Catholicism? Did I miss the memo?”

“I spent a few years living with my Catholic aunt,” Sabina explains. “Kept shoving the Bible down my throat when she became convinced that I was wondering down the pathway to Hell.” She shrugs and turns to look at Nate. “How is Saint Dismas connected to Avery’s treasure?”

“The last sighting of Avery was in Scotland.”

“Yes?”

“You know what’s also in Scotland?”

The moment Sabina makes the connection, her eyes start to light up. “The Cathedral of Saint Dismas,” she says. “You think it’s in the cathedral?”

“It’s my best guess,” Nate says. “Take a look at the bottom.”

Sabina tilts the cross. The bottom is smashed, destroyed. “It’s broken.”

“And hollow,” he says. “It’s strange for a cross like that to be hollow, unless it was intentional. There might be something missing, a clue that was hidden inside, but this is all we’ve got to work with.”

“Well,” Sabina says, “the cathedral was abandoned by the time Avery got there. There would have been nothing to stop him from using it as a hiding place.”

“Exactly.”

“But now we have a new problem,” she says. “How do we search the area without anyone noticing or growing suspicious? If the treasure is there, then we might have to dig up the whole thing to find it.”

“I’ll buy the cathedral,” Rafe says.

“What?”

“If we buy up all of the land, we can excavate every inch of it without anyone bothering us.”

Sabina and Nate exchange a quick glance at each other. When Nate gives her a shrug, Sabina turns her attention back to Rafe. “It’s your money,” she says. “If you want to buy the land, we won’t stop you.”

“If Avery’s treasure is there,” Rafe says, “then this will be worth the investment.”

**November 2015**  


Sabina flips through the pages of her book, skimming it for any information that would help her figure out the small pile of engraved rubble. Since Nadine’s men had blown up the wall before she could take a good look at the symbols, it was difficult to tell if the barely legible text was a feature of the church itself, or a gift from Henry Avery.

“Did you happen to see any notably strange symbols on the wall?” She asks one of the mercenaries.

“I can’t read Latin, ma’am,” he says. “It all looks strange to me.”

“Right,” Sabina mutters. “Perhaps you saw a sigil? Skull and crossbones?”

“Do pirates actually use that?” The other mercenary responds. “I thought it was just a thing in the movies.”

“Well,” Sabina squints at the page, trying to see the words printed beneath the coffee stains. “Avery used one.”

“You some sort of pirate expert?” The second man asks.

“Actually, I’m an archaeologist,” she says. “I specialize in Medieval and post-Medieval culture and artifacts. Learning about Avery is more of a hobby.”

“Oddly specific.”

Sabina frowns. He wasn’t wrong. The truth is that a piece of her believes that her and Rafe’s shared interest in the treasure is the only thing holding their marriage together.

Nadine’s voice comes through on the radio, interrupting the discussion. “Rafe,” she says. “Rafe, come in.”

“I’m at the graveyard,” he responds. “Nadine, they were here.”

“Yeah, I’m looking at them right now.”

Sabina sets the book down on the table, focusing her attention on the conversation.

“What?” Rafe says. “Where are you?”

“Come back to the cathedral. Follow the holes.”

“I’m on my way. And for God’s sake, don’t shoot them yet.”

“Might want to hurry then,” Nadine says.

“Oh, fuck,” Sabina steps away from the table, heading towards the door. 

The first mercenary moves to block it. He holds his gun in front of him, resting it flat against his chest and stomach. “You got somewhere else to be?” He says.

“Hey,” Sabina holds up her hands. “Just want to get over there before they all shoot each other to death.”

“Don’t worry about it,” the man shrugs. “Not your concern. Be a good girl and keep looking at your pile of rocks.”

Sabina sighs, frowning. “Sure,” she says, taking a step backwards. “It’s my job, after all.”

**November 2000**  


Sabina stumbles through the darkness, somewhat overwhelmed by the noise of different conversations clashing against each other. Dressed in a fit-and-flare lilac colored dress and a pair of tan wedge heels, she stumbles across the uneven pavement. Sam had told her to put on a nice dress for the occasion, and then promptly blindfolded her once she had announced that she was ready to go.

“Sam,” she whines. “Where are you taking me?”

The man tightens his grip on her hand. “You’ll see,” he says.

“What if I guess?”

“I doubt you’ll get it right.”

Sabina stops walking, jerking Sam to a halt. “Are you underestimating me?”

“Dear God, Bina,” he removes his hand from her grasp and presses it against her back, pushing her forward. “We’re in the middle of the road.”

“Oh, so we’re at least still near some sort of civilization.”

“Yes,” he says.

“Are we still in France?”

“Yes.”

“What a pity.”

“What?” Sam laughs. “You hate it here or something?”

“If we’re going somewhere romantic, I think I’d prefer Venice,” Sabina says. “No! Florence! Florence was lovely. I might even move there one day.”

“Babe,” he says. “Hate to break it to ya, but we’ve only been walking for fifteen minutes. Can’t reach Florence that fast.”

“Maybe you can’t.”

“You can?”

“Maybe,” Sabina smiles. “I haven’t revealed all of my secrets. I might be hiding my ability for teleportation.”

“Why would you hide that? Would’ve been useful for that job in Argentina.”

“Are you still upset about that?”

“I got shot!” Sam responds.

“Oh, suck it up,” Sabina says. “You lived.”

“You shot me.”

“It’s not like I was aiming for you.”

“My life flashed before my eyes,” he continues.

“The bullet grazed your shoulder,” Sabina says. “You weren’t going to die.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he says. With his right hand still pressed against her back, he uses his left to grasp onto Sabina’s hand. “Slow down,” he says, “you’re going to need to walk up some stairs.”

“How many?”

“Don’t worry about it,” the man says.

“Sam.”

“It’s like fifteen or something, twenty,” he pauses. “Maybe a little closer to thirty.”

“Sam! I’m wearing heels!”

“I didn’t tell you to wear heels,” he says.

“No,” Sabina agrees. “But you told me to dress up!”

“I said, ‘put on a nice dress.’”

Sabina groans. “What did you think I was going to use as footwear? Dirty combat boots that are still flooded with sand?”

“Alright, alright, you’ve made your point,” he says. “I’ll carry you up. Let’s go.”

“What if you drop me?”

“I’m not going to drop you.”

“But what if you _do_?”

“Come on,” Sam says, “have a little faith in me.” He leans down and scopes Sabina up in his arms.

She gives a gentle squeal in surprise and wraps her arms around him. “Sam!” Sabina buries her face into his shoulder. The smell of his cologne floods her nose, engulfing her in notes of bergamot, sage, cardamon, and an ever-so-slight hint of mandarin. A strong, underlying smell of tobacco, curtesy of Sam’s cigarettes, lingers in the background.

“You look beautiful, by the way,” he says.

Sabina smiles. “God, I hope so. This stupid dress cost a small fortune. Two hundred dollars for overpriced fabric.”

“You didn’t even spend your own money on it,” Sam laughs, “Didn’t you pickpocket some guy?”

“He spilled his drink on my favorite blouse. He deserved it.”

A comfortable silence blankets the pair, as Sam carries Sabina up the stairs.

“Not to ruin the mood,” she says, “but I think you should reconsider the plan.”

“It’s a bit late for this, don’t you think,” Sam says. “Rafe already made the deal.”

“Back out. We can find another way.”

“Bina,” he sighs. “The easiest way to get into a prison is to pose as an inmate.”

“Easiest, yeah. Only? No.”

“We’ve been sorting things out for a month already. Vargas was an easy—”

“—I don’t want you to go!” Sabina shouts. “What if something bad happens? What if you can’t get back out?”

“Hey,” Sam says. “Nathan is gonna be in there with me. We’ll look out for each other.”

“I know, but—”

“We’ll be back before you know it.”

Sabina readjusts her grip, pulling him close and resting her chin against his shoulder. Into his ear, she whispers, “Just be careful.”

She feels Sam’s fingers twitch in response.

“Alright,” he says, “we made it.” He bends down, helping Sabina regain her footing on the ground.

“Can I take my blindfold off now?” She says.

“Almost,” he laces his fingers between hers. “Just a few more steps.”

Sabina feels blades of grass brushing against her bare toes and ankles. Leaves rustle in a breeze that sends a shiver racing down her spine. After a few minutes of walking, Sam comes to a halt.

“Okay,” he says. He moves behind her and unties the fabric shielding her eyes. “Time to see.”

They’re standing at the top of a small hill, overlooking a meadow that is blooming with colors. Vibrant reds. Soft pinks. Tender blues. In the distance, the sun is beginning to set, filling the sky with an orange hue.

“It’s beautiful,” Sabina comments.

Sam responds with a happy hum.

“Might be the most romantic thing anyone has ever shown me,” she continues.

He wraps an arm around the back of her waist, resting his hand against her hip. “I know you’ve been worried about Panama,” he says.

“It’s a terrible plan.”

“But that clue is all we’ve got right now,” Sam says. “We can’t keep pushing it off. We either go for it now, or we wait for who knows how long.”

Sabina sighs, “I know.”

“This could be the last clue we need; it might take us directly to that treasure.”

“Or it could be the start of a new pathway down another maze of five hundred clues.”

“It could,” Sam agrees. “But we won’t know that unless we get it.” He reaches into his pocket and wraps his fingers around a small object. “I got you something,” he says. He holds his hand out in front of Sabina, palm face-up.

Resting in his hand is a ring, an oval cut sapphire attached to a thin gold band.

“Sam,” she blinks in surprise. “What—”

“Before you jump too far into conclusions, it’s not an engagement ring,” he clarifies. “Not quite. It’s—it’s a proposal, of a different sort.”

“A proposal for what?”

“After we find the treasure, run away with me.”

“What?”

Sam tightens his grip on her hip. “Run away with me.”

“I kind of already did that, didn’t I?” Sabina says. “Back when I tracked you down in Boston? You know, when I shoved my entire life into one duffle bag, so we could all fly to Brazil the next day.”

“I want to be with you, just you.”

Sabina shakes her head. “This—that—I mean, what? Have you—have you really thought about this? You want to run away? Leave Nate behind? Your brother?”

“He’s an adult,” Sam frowns. “He can take care of himself.”

“Sam, I just—wow—I—” Dazed, Sabina picks up the ring. “Jesus, it’s really pretty.”

Sam moves to stand in front of her and gently cups her face between his hands. He leans down, pressing a chaste kiss against her lips. “You and I could be great together,” he says, pulling away. “Imagine what more we could do, all of the places we could explore.”

“That is an enticing offer.”

“So,” Sam rests his forehead against hers, “what do you say?”

“I don’t have an answer for you,” Sabina admits. “I want to say yes—I do—but..”

“But what?”

“This is a lot to take in right now,” she says. “I’ve never really pictured a life with somebody else. All of these years, I’ve been running and running away. Hoping to find answers to questions that I’m not even sure I should be asking. I mean, as crazy as it sounds, this is the most stable lifestyle I’ve had in years. Alone, I have to keep both eyes open when I sleep. But with you, I… I can finally rest.”

“Bina—”

“I just need time to think, to be sure that this is what I really want.”

“I understand,” Sam says. “You don’t need to decide right now.”

“By the time you come back from Panama,” Sabina’s voice flatters. Desperate, she grabs onto Sam’s shirt and she pulls him down. She weaves her fingers into his hair and recaptures his lips for a long kiss. Breathless, she whispers, “I’ll have my answer.”

Sam smiles, kissing her again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello~ Thank you for reading this fic! If you enjoyed what you read, please considering giving this piece a kudos and/or comment. I am a small author, so any and all responses boost my confidence and let me know that people are interested in my work. If you want to view more content, you can follow me on social media! All of my updates are published on Twitter and extra content (playlists/edits/info) are posted on Tumblr.
> 
> Twitter: VostaraFics  
> Tumblr: Vostara


	2. we make mistakes, we leave them by the door

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> blurb: “But once, I think I loved you.”
> 
> Note: Mild game canon-divergence (for plot reasons).
> 
> The second (and final) part of the series. I’ve very much loved the process of writing this story and I adore Sabina and her interactions with Rafe and Sam. You can expect to see more of her in the future, since I have spin-off/sequel one-shots planned. I don’t know when they’ll be released, but they’re coming.

**February 2001**

A month ago, Sabina packed her duffle bag and left Scotland on the first flight that she could book. She flew to England, then took a train to France. Swung her way through Switzerland, Italy, and Austria, before finding herself here.

Germany.

Sitting on a bench inside of a tiny museum, Sabina stares at the painting displayed on the wall. Before her is a sea of lavender. Plants are angled towards the right, leaning with an invisible breeze. In the center is a young woman, dressed in a high-collared white dress. And in her lap is a toddler, waving around a bundle of flowers.

From her peripheral vision, she watches as a man joins her on the bench. His hand twitches, and he reaches out for her, tempted to brush his fingers against her own. Instead, he drops his hands into his lap and turns to look at the painting.

“You found me,” Sabina says.

The man remains silent.

“How?”

“It’s not important,” he says.

Finally, she turns her head to look at him, turns to look at Rafe. “You paid someone.”

“Actually,” he shakes his head. “I asked Nate.”

“I didn’t tell him where I was going.”

“No, but he made a startlingly educated guess.”

Sabina hums. “I don’t suppose he came here with you, did he?”

“Nate left,” he sighs.

“Can’t say I’m surprised. I’m pretty sure he hates you.” She reaches for the ring on her finger, fiddling with the sapphire gemstone. “When did he leave?”

“About a week after you did.”

“So,” Sabina says, “there really is nothing at the cathedral, then?”

“We don’t know that for sure,” Rafe responds.

“We’ve spent weeks looking. Weeks digging holes, turning over every single pebble. There’s nothing there,” she says. “No clue. No treasure. No sign that anything associated with Avery has ever existed there.”

“There has to be something there.”

“But there isn’t,” Sabina directs her attention back to the painting. “Maybe it’s time to let it go. Let the treasure disappear into obscurity.”

“Why are you giving up?”

“Why would you care?” Sabina counters. “You’ve got the cathedral, all of the clues. If you find the treasure on your own, you get all of the profit. A hefty sum to add on top of your hefty inheritance.”

Rafe clenches a fist.

“Sam was the Avery expert,” she continues. “Without him and without Nate… I just don’t see the point in continuing. Their knowledge about this is leagues above my own. The truth is that I was probably just tagging along for the ride.”

“I am sorry, you know,” Rafe says, “about Sam. His… it wasn’t part of the plan.”

“It all feels surreal,” Sabina admits. “Like I’m wandering through a terrible dream. I feel like I’m going to wake up, any minute now, and he’ll be there to greet me with a horrible cup of coffee and stale croissants.”

“Were you two…”

“Together?”

Rafe averts his gaze to the tile floor.

“No,” she says. “Not quite. We were… complicated. He was never really good at commitment—neither of us were, really.” Sabina sighs, “Maybe it’s due to our similar upbringings. We both grew up without our parents. Stability is a luxury that we haven’t quite experienced yet.”

“What happened to them? Your parents?”

With a slight tilt of her head, Sabina mulls over her response. “When you spoke to Nate,” she says, “did he specify exactly where I would be in the museum?”

Rafe takes a moment to think. “He did, yeah.”

“The first time I came here, I was with Sam,” she says. “It was raining outside, so we popped in to escape from the cold. And when I saw it,” she nods her head towards the painting, “I couldn’t pull my eyes away. Sam joked that he would steal it for me one day. Though, knowing Sam, he was probably being serious.”

She stands and takes a few steps closer to the painting, her face glowing from the faintest hint of a smile. _“Mother and Daughter Pick Flowers,_ such an original title. Artist: Jean-Jacques Pierre de la Sablonnière, a French painter. It was quite well-known that he hated men. In fact, he refused to paint them. Claimed that they were vile creatures. It is believed that when the Duke, Prince Louis Amilcar François d’Orléans, attempted to commission him for a painting, he laughed his face and danced on his way out of the villa. Of course, the Duke was upset, embarrassed. He stormed into his garden and shouted for his guards. And poor Monsieur de la Sablonnière was found dead, stabbed through the heart, just three days later.”

She turns around to look at Rafe, whom is still sitting on the bench. “I don’t remember my parents,” she says, walking back towards him. “I was a child when they died. Old enough to remember them, sure, but I can’t remember people if they barely had a presence in my life. What I do remember is this painting. A replica was hung in the living room, above a neglected fireplace full of dust. I wanted to be the little girl in the painting, to also have the joy of sitting in a sunny field, picking flowers with my mother. It’s a bit said, you know, that I don’t remember my mother’s face, but I remember my nanny.”

Sabina sits down on the bench, inches away from Rafe. “My parents were murdered,” she says. “After months of being away, they had finally come home. I was so happy. Even though I had grown out of bedtime stories, my father read one to me. And when he was finished, I begged him to read another and another. I think I was afraid that he would never read me one again. We stayed awake, long after my bedtime, but neither of us cared.

“My mother died first. We heard her screams, her pleas for help. Heard her begging the the intruders to stop. My father picked me up, carried me into his study, and hid me in a secret space beneath the floorboards.” Sabina unclasps the gold chain around her neck and places the medallion in Rafe’s hands. “He gave that to me. Told me to keep it safe, hidden. I don’t really remember what happened after that. Sometimes, in my nightmares, I recall the sound of a gunshot. Of papers being pushed, scattered. Cabinets crashing against the floor. I see blood seeping through the cracks in the floor. I feel it dripping down onto my face, onto my hands.”

Sabina exhales, releasing a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. “I don’t know who, specifically, killed them; they were never caught. But since then, I’ve spent an alarming amount of time running away from people who wish to murder me. Whatever my parents found, whatever that medallion is, it’s worth something. The boys and I speculate that it’s related to Avery’s treasure, but we’ve been unsuccessful with our attempts to solve the puzzle.”

“Sabina,” Rafe says, “let’s work together.”

“I don’t know,” she says, shrugging. “I don’t know if I can keep doing this.”

“Tell me,” Rafe looks down at the medallion, brushing his thumb over the etched symbols. “Do you still want to find Avery’s treasure?”

“Yes, but—”

“Then come with me.”

“I can’t—not without Sam—”

He reaches out towards Sabina and wraps his fingers around her hand. “You don’t need the Drakes, Sabina. You’re more intelligent than you think you are.”

“Why are you looking for this?” She asks. “What could you possibly gain? It can’t be the money, you already have that.”

“Curiosity,” he says. “Boredom, maybe.”

“Treasure hunting: an unusual cure for boredom.”

Rafe chuckles.

“I want to be equals,” Sabina says. “We split the treasure, fifty-fifty.”

“Hey, I’m the one footing the bill for—”

“Fifty-fifty. Take it, or I walk.”

“Deal,” Rafe says.

**December 2015**

A few years ago, Sabina figured out that life with Rafe is easier if she avoids the topic of Nathan Drake. Though her husband would never admit it, it was clear that feelings of rage, frustration, and jealousy were building up inside of him. He hated what Nate had accomplished on his own, hated what he had accomplished without him. And Nate’s current involvement with Avery’s treasure hasn’t helped. In fact, spending the past few weeks chasing after him had skyrocketed Rafe’s anger, making her husband almost unbearable to be around.

After Scotland, they followed Nate here, to Madagascar.

Drowning beneath the burning sunlight and stifling humidity, Sabina does her best to keep herself calm, composed. So far she has been successful in convincing Rafe and Nadine not to murder Nate at first sight, but as the promise of finding treasure draws closer, their patience is beginning to wan. Currently, the trio are driving in a jeep through one of the cities, providing a much appreciated gust of wind to cool down their sweaty bodies.

Rafe pulls his phone out of his pocket and dials a number. A few moments later, he laughs. “Here I am, I’m calling what I thought was Sullivan’s phone… and look who picks up,” he says. “How you been, Nate?”

Her ears perk up at the name.

“I wish,” Rafe chuckles. “That only would’ve cost me a few shots of rum, right? No, no, I had to pay top dollar to find you guys.”

Sabina frowns. Just how much money has Rafe invested into this not-so-friendly competition? He must be more on edge than she had assumed.

“…you pulled off some clever moves there,” he says. “But in the end, all that matters is who gets to Avery’s treasure first.”

A brief pause.

“Hey, Nate, you know I’m always game,” Rafe responds. “But my partner,” he turns his head slightly, to glance over at Nadine, “well, she prefers to… mitigate unnecessary risks.”

Sabina tenses and her eyes flicker over to Nadine, but she ignores her gaze.

“Look, Nate. I’m gonna make you a one-time offer here,” he continues. “You drop everything. Go home, live your life… and I’m willing to forgive and forget. For old time’s sake.”

Nadine looks over at the man, as he listens to Nate’s response.

“Okay,” Rafe shrugs. “‘Pro Deus quod licentia.’ _For God and liberty._ ” He smiles, “These are nice pictures, Nate. Good composition.”

A feeling of dread punches Sabina in the stomach. She leans forward in her seat and grabs onto her husband’s shoulder.

“You stole my cross!” Rafe says. “Listen, Nate, if you’re half as smart as you think you are, you’ll accept my offer. What’s it going to be?”

“Rafe,” Sabina says, jostling his arm.

He ignores her.

“Well, Nate, one more thing—Nate!”

A pause.

“You… you do realize that your phones are equipped with GPS, right?” He asks. “I’ll see you soon, buddy.” He ends the call, finally turning to look at her. “What?”

“What did you do?” She asks.

“Honey, don’t worry about it.”

“Rafe—”

“This doesn’t concern you.”

“What is wrong with you?” Sabina yells. “This is—this is absolutely crazy!”

“Sabina,” Rafe says. “I need you to calm down.”

“Me?” She laughs. “You need me to calm down? Have you listened to yourself once in the past few weeks? Hell, the past few years? Everything is Drake this! Drake that! God, maybe you should’ve married him, huh? He’s all you ever talk about. Too bad you’re sending people to go fucking murder him!”

“I am not going to do this with you right now.”

“Is this why you hired Shoreline?” Sabina says. “So you could get rid of anyone that stands between you and that treasure?”

Rafe doesn’t respond.

“When this is over, I’m done.”

“Sabina—”

“No, I am sick of this. You aren’t the person I married. You aren’t even the person from five years ago.”

“Sabina—”

“Shut up,” she says. “Just… shut up.”

**September 2001**

Sabina fiddles with her emerald green satin dress. It was something that would have cost her a small fortune, more than triple the rent of her tiny overpriced apartment, but Rafe had insisted on getting it for her.

 _This is ridiculous_ , she had said. _It’s just a dress._

 _Really, it’s nothing._ Rafe said, waving away her protests. _If you want to blend in, you’re going to need to dress the part._

_I can’t ask you to pay for this._

_You don’t need to ask,_ he chuckles. _I’m telling you that I’ll pay._

_But I’ll only ever wear this dress like once, maybe twice._

_That would be a real shame. You look really beautiful in it._

The comment had shut Sabina up, bringing forth a light blush to stain her cheeks.

 _I know that this doesn’t seem like pocket change to you,_ Rafe said, _but it is. And even if it wasn’t, this dress would be worth the price. ___

____

____

“Sabina,” a voice calls. A hand reaches out for her own, intertwining their fingers between hers. “Relax,” they say, “the more you twitch, the more attention you’ll bring to us.”

She sighs, looking at Rafe. She squeezes Rafe’s hand, as she glances around the room.

The pair were at an exclusive, membership-only bar. A hotspot for filthy rich assholes, those that are usually linked to shady business deals and other questionable methods of income. Sabina felt out of place, standing amongst the elite of wealthy society. While these people sweetened a cup of tea with liquid gold, she was one to ration a bottle of honey.

“Maybe I should go,” she says. “I feel like everyone can tell that I don’t belong here.”

“Nonsense,” Rafe says. “Everyone knows that you’re here with me; they all watched us walk in together.”

“Every time I exhale, someone looks at me like I’m tainting the air.”

“Ignore them.”

“That’s easy for you to say,” she huffs. “Nobody is looking at you like you’re trash that someone dragged in from the street.”

Rafe chuckles. “They’re curious about you.”

“I’m pretty sure everyone believes I’m a gold digger that’s playing you.”

“Come on,” he says, tugging at her hand. He begins to lead her out of the bar.

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.”

“But the seller—Rafe—he could be here any moment.”

“He can wait five minutes,” he says. “You look like you’re about to suffocate.”

“But—”

“Trust me, Sabina.”

She sighs, but stops her struggle.

Rafe leads her up a short flight of stairs and then outside, onto a balcony. The late night air of Germany chills her arms, triggering a layer of fresh goosebumps. But she ignores the cold when her mind becomes focused on the view in front of her. The balcony overlooks a vast forest of pine trees, illuminated by the silver-blue haze of moonlight.

Sabina takes in a deep inhale of the crisp air.

“What’s bothering you?” Rafe asks.

“What?” She turns to look at him. “Nothing. Nothing, really.”

“Wow,” he takes a step closer to her, placing his hands on the iron railing. “You didn’t even try to sound convincing with that response.”

“I’m fine.”

“The key to a good partnership is communication,” Rafe says. “So, communicate. Talk to me, huh?”

“I feel like I’m wasting your time,” Sabina admits.

“What? Why would you think that?”

“And your money,” she continues.

“What are you talking about?”

“What if I can’t solve the medallion?” Sabina grips onto the railing in front of her. “Can’t solve the puzzle or figure out whatever piece I need in order to even attempt solving it. Or what if it’s broken? What if it was part of something else and that something is long gone? Rafe, I’ve barely contributed anything in the past year.”

He opens his mouth to respond, but Sabina interrupts him.

“We’ve hardly made any progress,” she says. “Maybe I’m holding us back, leading us in the wrong directions. God, I keep turning those fucking rings. As if it’s going to make a difference and one day I’ll magically line it up correctly and everything with click into place. But it hasn’t happened… and I’m not sure if it will.”

“You’re not wrong,” Rafe says. “We’ve been circling the same set of clues for longer than either of us would like to. But that doesn’t mean we should give up altogether.”

“I think we should part ways,” Sabina says.

His eyes widen.

“We started off as business partners, but let’s be honest. We’re hardly fifty-fifty. You’re footing the bill for everything,” she says. “Our trips. Our purchases. Our bribes. You’ve even started paying my bills, covering my living expenses. We can’t be equals if the contributions aren’t equal. You give everything, but I have nothing to give in return.”

“If you think I’m mad about the money, you’re mistaken. I’ve told you before, money isn’t a problem.”

“You keep saying that!” Sabina runs a hand through her hair, ruining the perfect curls. “I appreciate the help, I really do, but I feel like I’ve become far too indebted to you. If we don’t find Avery’s treasure, I’ll never be able to pay you back for everything.”

“You don’t need to pay me back,” he says.

“Rafe—”

“I don’t financially support you because I want you to feel like you’re in my debt,” he says. He reaches out for her hand, but freezes, unsure. “I do it because I believe in you.”

“You’re sucking up to me,” she smiles.

“I do it because I need you,” Rafe gently wraps his fingers around her arm, turning her to face him. “I want you to be in this with me.”

Sabina blinks, confused by the hint of longing in his voice.

“I care for you, Sabina. I’m in love with you,” he says.

She freezes, processing his words.

“You’re not a burden to me. You’re brilliant, one of the most intelligent women I’ve ever met. And despite every terrible that that has happened to you, you still manage to show kindness. You are caring, protective of those close to you.” Rafe pauses, taking a breath. “When we were in Columbia, when you almost—”

Died. 

The pair had gone to the country just a couple of months prior to investigate a cave with a potential lead. While examining the markings carved into the stone, Sabina had set off a trap, triggering an explosion. Rubble had fallen down near the exit, blocking her inside and separating her from Rafe. Moments later the cave was flooding. Desperate, Rafe and Sabina pushed and pulled at the debris, trying to make a big enough hole for her to slip through. As her lungs began to fill up with the water, she started to lose consciousness. Rafe had managed to pull her through a gap, just before she had blacked out completely.

“I realized how much you mean to me,” Rafe continues. “I want a life with you.”

Without a moment to waste, Sabina grips onto Rafe’s tie and pulls him closer. She presses her lips against his, overwhelmed, but attempting to convey all of her emotions in the act. Sabina moves her hands to rest one against his neck. The other travels to the back of his head, allowing her fingers to clutch onto the short strands of his hair.

He wanted her.

He loved her.

And in this moment, he needed her, with or without the treasure.

Rafe pulls her into his arms, flush against his body. His nails dig into the satin, longing to instead feel the bare flesh beneath the fabric. His kiss is eager, desperate, intense, yet too gentle at the same time. Sabina can sense that he wants to feel more of her and it’s something that she’ll happily give.

**December 2015**

The sound of splitting wood and crashing debris echoes in the rainforest, originating from Nadine’s last known location. Rafe and a couple of the Shoreline mercenaries were hot on her heels, rushing to get to the Nate before he could slip away again. Trailing behind, Sabina struggles to keep up with the men, but her short legs can only do so much.

“…forget about her! We gotta get out of here before they—”

The man’s voice comes to abrupt stop when Rafe runs out of the ruined buildings of Libertalia and into the open. Rafe raises a gun, pointing it at the men in front of him. The two mercenaries follow suite, also aiming their weapons at the targets.

“Shit. Whoa, whoa, whoa,” the man says, alarmed. “Everybody just… just calm down, okay?”

Nearly gasping for air, Sabina approaches the exit.

“Well, this is interesting,” Rafe says. “Nate. Samuel.”

Sabina halts, frozen by the name. Samuel? Who the hell is—

“Put your guns down!” A new voice yells. “All of you.”

Samuel?

The old sapphire ring on her right hand feels heavy on her finger. For years she hadn’t noticed the jewelry, burying away its significance in her life. Now it was the only thing her buzzing brain could focus on.

“No,” her husband responds.

“Rafe, this guy’s on edge,” Nadine says.

“Oh, don’t worry about him, Nadine.” Rafe takes a small step forward. “These guys don’t kill anyone in cold blood. It’s just not their style.”

“You willing to bet her life on that?” One of the men says.

With shaky steps, Sabina steps into the clearing. Her eyes focused on Shoreline’s targets. There, she sees Nate, looking exhausted and worried. He’s covered in dirt, dust, and droplets of sweat. To his left is Nadine: held hostage, gun to her head. And there, holding the gun, is a familiar, but aged, face. The face of a dead man, of a man that she hasn’t seen in fifteen years. A man that she had shed countless tears for, before she had forced herself to lock away her memories of him, to bury him deep, deep in the back of her mind.

“Sam?” The name is whispered through her lips, ignored by everyone.

“Go ahead then,” Rafe says. “Shoot her.”

“Sam,” Nate warns.

“I die, you both die,” Nadine says.

“So be it,” Sam hisses into her ear. “Not another step!”

“You mean… like this?” Rafe takes another step forward.

“Sam, put the gun down!” Nate says.

“I warned you.”

“Do it!” Rafe taunts.

Nadine shouts, “Rafe!”

Just as Sam’s finger begins to press down on the trigger, Nate rushes towards him. He shoves the gun upwards, away from Nadine. 

The sound of a gunshot rings in the air. 

And Nadine uses the opportunity to slam her elbow back into Sam’s stomach, allowing her to slip away from his hold.

“Wait!” Sabina screams, running towards the Drakes.

Nate holds the gun up in the air. “It’s done!”

“Hold your fire!” Rafe turns to yell at the mercenaries, holding up his arms. “Don’t shoot!”

Sabina rushes to Sam’s side. He’s hunched over, stunned from Nadine’s blow. “Oh, my god,” she says. “Sam?”

The man lifts his head to look at her. “Bina? What are you doing here?”

“What am I doing here?” She asks. “What are you doing here?”

“Nate, put the gun down,” Rafe says. “Sabina, what are you doing?”

She ignores him.

Nadine picks up the gun. “Don’t worry, Nadine. It’s not their style,” she quotes, walking passed Rafe.

“What can I say?” Rafe replies. “I didn’t think he had it in him.”

“I don’t understand—I thought—Sam—”

“It’s complicated, but I’m here,” he responds. He lifts his right hand to brush the back of his fingertips against her cheek. “I missed you.”

“Sam—”

“Jesus, will somebody go get her?” Rafe addresses the mercenaries.

The man to Rafe’s right approaches Sabina, gun still trained on Sam. He grabs onto her arm, attempting to pull her away from the older Drake.

“Don’t touch her!” Sam yells. But when the mercenary points the barrel of the gun directly into his face, Sam stops protesting.

Rafe steps forward, approaching the Drakes. “Samuel. You okay?” He reaches forward to brush off some of the dust on the man’s shoulders. “I guess you knew this moment was coming, huh?” Rafe slams his handgun across Sam’s face, knocking him down onto the ground.

“Hey!” Nate says. “C’mon, man. You got us. Take it easy.”

Rafe reaches for Sabina, pulling her away from the mercenary. With a firm grip on her arm, he positions her to stand slightly behind himself.

“C’mon now,” Nate says. “You’re a businessman. Let’s just… work out a deal.”

“Oh, a deal,” Rafe says. “Oh, yeah, I’d love to hear what you have in mind.” He takes a step forward, pulling Sabina with him, and then kicks Sam in the face.

“Rafe!” Sabina snaps.

“Oh, you can go ahead,” Rafe says to Nate. “I’m listening.”

“Alright, just… alright,” Nate leans down to help Sam stand back up. “Look, you wanna find Avery’s treasure? We’ll help you find it.”

“And in exchange, I let you live?”

“Yeah,” Nate hesitates. “That and a small cut.”

Rafe laughs. “The gauchos on this guy.”

“Just enough to get him freedom, okay?”

“His freedom?”

“Nathan—” Sam says.

“Yeah,” Nate interrupts. “He did hard time. Our time. And the guy who broke him out, Hector Alcazar, he owes him a lot of money.”

“Whoa, what the hell are you talking about, Nate?” Rafe says. “Hector Alcazar died in a shootout in Argentina like six months ago. I’m the one that got Samuel out.”

Sabina frowns, confused, and turns her head to look at her husband.

Nate looks over at Sam, before turning his attention back to Rafe. “What?”

“Oh,” a look of realization shines on Rafe’s features. “Wow. What did he tell you? Sam, what kind of story did you cook up? Alcazar? Really? You lied? You lied to your baby brother?”

“We’re wasting time,” Nadine says.

“Just a second,” Rafe responds. “Thing is, Nate, I never stopped looking for Avery’s treasure. I just kept running into these dead ends,” he chuckles, “you know? And then I heard that our dear ol’ Samuel Drake, an authority on Avery—is alive and somewhat well. There was no breakout. I bribed the prison warden and your brother waltzed right out the front gate. He spent the last two years tracking down the second Saint Dismas cross. And you know what? He did it all with me.”

Sabina opens her mouth to speak, “Two years—”

“No,” Nate says.

“Oh, yeah.”

“No, that’s bullshit!”

“Oh, Sam?” Rafe turns his direction towards the man. “Care to refute?”

He sighs. “Nate…”

“Aw, Sam… Ah, Jesus, no, no…”

Sam takes a step closer to his brother. “Listen, Avery’s treasure was ours,” he says. “It was always ours.”

“No!” Nate yells. “I left my life for you!”

“Hey, look, look, Nate,” Rafe says, laughing. “If it’s any consolation, he duped me, too. He pulled a Houdini on me. He brought you and that old man back into the mix. And I cannot lie, Sam, that really pissed me off. But you know… all behind us now.”

“You don’t deserve it,” Sam says.

“You do? Last I checked we’re all a bunch of thieves, digging around where we shouldn’t.”

Nadine approaches the bickering men, “Rafe.”

“What?”

“One way or another, end it,” she says. “Or I will.”

Rafe nods. “Well, you heard the lady,” he says, aiming his gun at Sam.

“Wait,” Sabina says. “Don’t—”

“Hey,” Nate says. “You miss one clue and you can kiss that treasure goodbye. You said it yourself: you keep running into dead ends. Why don’t you face it, Rafe. You need us.”

“Rafe, put the gun down,” Sabina says.

He ignores her, eyes focused on the Drake brothers. “Yeah, you’re right,” Rafe says, lowering the gun. He pauses for a moment, before continuing, “You’re half right. I just need Sam.” Rafe raises the gun again, pointing it at Nate.

Sabina pulls her arm out of Rafe’s grip and rushes forward to stand in front of the Drakes. “Don’t,” she yells.

“Honey,” Rafe sighs. “I need you to step out of the way.”

Sabina shakes her head. She holds her arms out to her sides, as if her small frame could shield the two men. “I can’t do that,” she says.

“Bina,” Sam reaches for her shoulder.

“Don’t even think about touching my wife,” Rafe says, aiming the gun at him.

“Put the gun down!” Sabina says.

“You’re really going to defend them,” her husband scoffs. “You’re picking these two assholes over me, your husband?”

“It’s not about picking sides,” Sabina says. “And why should I side with you anyway? You’ve known Sam has been alive, all of this time? And you didn’t think to tell me? Why? Why would you do that?”

“It’s complicated,” he says.

“Then explain it to me.”

“You talk in your sleep,” Rafe sighs and lowers the gun.

“Okay? So?”

“You say all sorts of things, you know,” Rafe takes a cautious step forward. “You reenact your memories, your nightmares. You relive all of those traumatic moments that you keep buried. You’ve screamed about your parents, screamed about the night of their murder. And you cry about… him,” he says, glancing at Sam. “You regret Panama, regret not pushing harder at looking for an alternative plan. You regret not telling me what he meant to you.”

“I—”

“But one day you stopped,” Rafe says. “I didn’t tell you about Sam because I thought that you had finally finished grieving his death. I didn’t want you to go through that all over again.”

Sabina relaxes her arms. “How dare you make that choice for me,” she says.

“It’s not like he ever bothered to search for you. He didn’t even tell his own brother he was alive,” Rafe says. “What makes you think that he would’ve bothered to see you, Sabina? If he had never betrayed me, we wouldn’t all be here right now. Not like this. You might have gone the rest of your life believing that Sam had died in that prison.”

Sabina swallows a lump in her throat. Her heartbeat is racing, pounding against her chest. She angles her body to look at Sam.

He avoids her gaze, turning his eyes down towards the ground.

An admission of guilt?

Rafe takes another step forward. “I lied to you, I’ll admit that.” He extends a hand in her direction. “But I didn’t do it out of malice. Step away from them, honey. We can find the treasure. We will find the treasure.”

“I don’t care about that,” she says. “You lied to me.”

“I never did it with the intention of hurting you,” Rafe says. “But I promise you that I won’t make that mistake again.”

“How can I trust you?”

“We’re partners, remember? Not just for this treasure, but in life.”

“Please,” Sabina says. “Don’t hurt them.”

“Everything is going to be okay, honey.”

Hesitant, Sabina reaches forward, placing her hand on top of Rafe’s open palm. 

“Bina, don’t,” Sam says.

Rafe steps closer to his wife, pulling her into a tight hug. “That’s my girl,” he says, eyes focused on Sam.

Sabina digs her nails into the back of his shirt and buries her face into his chest.

With one arm wrapped around his wife, Rafe aims his gun at Nate. “Back to business then.”

“Wait,” Sabina tries to pull herself out of his hold, but Rafe’s grip is firm. “You promised—”

“Wait now,” Nate says. “You’re making a mistake, you got—”

“Rafe, don’t!” Sam steps forward, partially blocking Nate. “Rafe, don’t, don’t, listen I—”

Ignoring their pleas, Rafe fires the gun. The shot misses Nate, but hits Sam in his left arm. The impact of the bullet sends him stumbling backwards, causing him to bump into Nate. Less than a moment later, Nate disappears, falling off the edge of the cliff.

“Nathan!” Sam yells.

Rafe turns to look at Nadine and the mercenaries. “Take him,” he orders.

**February 2002**

A morning glow peaks in through the curtains, illuminating the couple tangled beneath the bedsheets. Sabina whines at the touch of light and hides her face beneath the covers. Beside her, Rafe shifts, awoken by the movement. His hand brushes against Sabina’s naked back, fingers trailing along the curve of her spine.

“Good morning,” he says.

“No,” Sabina mumbles, “go back to sleep.” She buries her face into his chest.

Rafe chuckles. “You know that I’d love to do that.”

“Don’t argue. Just sleep.”

He places a hand on top of the one Sabina is laying on his chest. Rubs his thumb across the tops of her fingers. “But I have business meetings I can’t postpone any further,” he says.

“Give me the handcuffs,” she says. “I’ll chain you to the bed.”

“Are you sure?” Rafe pushes the cover away from her face. “You seem to enjoy wearing them more than I do.”

“I’m not the one who plans on leaving.”

He cups her cheek and pulls her into a kiss. “If I keep postponing, they’ll walk away completely.”

“Fine,” Sabina pouts.

Rafe recaptures her lips. He grabs onto her hips and coerces her to lay down on her back. When he moves to hover above her, Sabina wraps her legs around his waist and pulls him against her body.

“You know that I love you, right?” Rafe says.

Sabina nods, pulling him in for another kiss.

But he pulls away, choosing instead to look at her flushed cheeks. Rafe smiles and brushes the loose strands of hair away from her face. He rolls off of her and opens the drawer in the beside table.

Sabina sits up in the bed, alarmed. “What’s wrong?”

Rafe turns back towards her. “Marry me,” he says, holding up a small black velvet box.

She blinks up at him, processing the words that are swimming around in her discombobulated head. “What did you say?”

As he takes a nervous breath, he pulls back the lid of the box. “Will you marry me?”

Sabina’s eyes focus on the object inside, a ring. 

A pear-shaped diamond, set on a sleek white gold band. 

“You want… to marry me?”

“I do,” Rafe frowns. He’s hurt, confused by her response. “I love you. There’s no one in the world I would rather be with.”

Sabina reaches for the box, pulling it out of Rafe’s hand. “But the treasure,” she says, “we haven’t found Avery’s treasure yet. What if we never find it? Would you still want to be with me?”

“Yes,” he responds. “I don’t want to marry the treasure. I want to marry you.”

“Okay,” she whispers. Sabina sniffles, overwhelmed by emotion. But there’s a twinkle in her watering eyes and a small smile on her swollen lips. “Yes,” she says. “Yes!” She throws herself onto Rafe, knocking him down onto the bed, and peppers him with feverish, giddy kisses.

**December 2015**

The moment Sam had revealed where the treasure was, still on Avery’s ship, Rafe gathered together some of the Shoreline men. Using the distraction, Sabina approaches the mercenary that has been assigned to keep an eye on the Drake brother.

“Jonas, right?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he says.

She tilts her head in Sam’s direction. “If you let me speak with him alone, I’ll wire five thousand dollars into your bank account.”

He pauses, mulling over the offer. “Gotta be honest with ya, I’m not sure if dealing with your husband’s temper is worth that price.”

“Ten thousand.”

“Fifteen.”

“Sure,” Sabina shrugs. “It’s his money anyway.”

“Try to be quick about it, yeah?” Jonas steps out of the way, allowing her to slip inside of the small alcove.

Hearing the approaching footsteps, Sam looks up at his guest. His hands are bound, tied tightly with rope. The gunshot wound in his arm is bandaged, but splotches of blood have seeped through the gauze. He sighs, leaning back against the stone wall. “Bina,” he greets.

“Hey, Sam,” she says. She sits down on the floor, away from his reach. “So… I’m not sure on how to go about this discussion. My kind-of-ex-boyfriend coming back from the dead isn’t a scenario that I was ever prepared for.”

“Listen, I—”

“Were you going to tell me?” She interrupts. “Were you ever going to let me know that you were still alive?”

He sighs. “I thought about you, all the time. But I didn’t think that I was ever gonna get out of there. And then, when I did, well, Rafe was the one pulling those strings. Thirteen years had gone by. I figured that you had already moved on.”

“Well, you weren’t wrong,” Sabina admits. “I did get married—”

Sam laughs, a cynical chuckle. “You sure did, huh? Married Rafe. Could’ve picked anyone in the whole world, but you picked him.”

“I don’t have to justify my actions to you,” she says. “What was I supposed to do? Dwell on you for the rest of my life? Stay single, alone forever? I thought you were dead. How could you have expected me to wait for someone who wasn’t coming back?”

“You didn’t have to pick him,” Sam mutters.

“I didn’t have to, but I did! I wanted him. And I knew that he wanted me.” Sabina pauses, using the moment to calm herself down. “‘After we find the treasure, run away with me.’ That was your pseudo-proposal, word for word.”

“I remember,” he says.

“When Rafe asked me to marry him, there was no caveat,” she says. “He simply wanted me. It wasn’t all or nothing. I wasn’t part of a package deal.”

Sam frowns. “I wasn’t trying to imply that you were.”

“Sam,” Sabina shakes her head. “If you had never gotten trapped in that prison, if you had made it out of Panama with Rafe and Nate, do you really think that we would still be together?”

“I—I don’t know,” he says. “I’d like to think that we would be.”

“I think you would’ve left me,” Sabina says.

“What? Why would you think that?”

“For two decades, all you’ve thought about is that treasure. You didn’t even tell Nate that you were alive. You kept him in the dark, then you lied to him. If tracking down your brother isn’t one of the first things you do once you’ve gained your freedom, then where am I on that list?”

“Things were complicated.”

“Not nearly as complicated as you pretend them to be,” she says. “You’re just a selfish asshole. You don’t care that you’ve hurt people, betrayed them, let them down.” Sabina sits up on her knees and reaches for the back pocket of her pants. She pulls out a pocket knife and flips it open.

“Hey,” Sam says, doing his best to inch away from her. “Bina, I know you’re upset. But you don’t need to do this.”

She wraps her fingers around his bound hands and pulls him towards her. “I’m such an idiot,” she mutters. Sabina saws her knife through the rope, breaking the binds.

“What—”

“I love Rafe, I do,” she says. “But once, I think I loved you. I cared about you, at least. I might be a bit pissed off at you right now, but I won’t stand by while Rafe holds you captive. Just get out of here.”

Sam holds onto her hands and leans towards her. “Come with me,” he says.

“I can’t,” she whispers.

“You know what kind of man he is,” he says. “You deserve better.”

Sabina shakes her head, frowning. “I’m not sure if you’re much better.” She pulls herself away from him. “None of us are who we used to be. Rafe and I have our problems, but when we work, we work. I won’t deny that things have been a bit strained, lately. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t fix our marriage. I won’t throw all of this away for you. Not anymore.”

Sam nods his head, a grimace on his lips.

“Just so you, I’m glad you’re alive,” Sabina says.

“I’m sorry. For everything.”

“I know,” she says. “Okay,” Sabina stands up. “Right. I need you to punch me or something.”

“What?” Sam says, also moving to stand up.

“Well, we need to stage your escape,” she says.

“Can’t I just walk out of here?”

“I paid off the guard. It’ll look suspicious if you disappear after I leave.”

“I’m not going to punch you,” Sam says.

“Just punch me! Then take out the guard.”

“Bina—”

“Sam,” she hisses. “For once in your life, just listen to me. We don’t need to argue about everything.”

“Oh, my god,” he groans. “Why does your plan involve me punching you in the face?”

“What—I never told you to punch my face.”

“Jesus Christ—”

“Is that where you wanted to punch me?”

“That’s not what I meant—”

“Maybe I should punch you in the fucking face,” Sabina says, taking a step towards him.

“Whoa, whoa, hold on,” Sam says, holding his hands up in front of him. “I’m just saying that—”

“Oi,” a voice interrupts.

Sam and Sabina turn to look at the entrance.

Jonas the Mercenary stands there, gun pointed in Sam’s direction. “What’s going on here? You untie him?”

“Jonas,” Sabina says. Her eyes flicker over to Sam, before focusing again on the mercenary. “Thank god you’re here! Samuel was… threatening me. Said that he would kill me if I didn’t cut the rope.”

“That so?” He takes a few steps forward. “Guess we should tie him back up.”

“Right,” she agrees.

“Go stand by the door,” he says. “I’ll bind him.”

Sabina throws one last glance at Sam, before heading towards the exit. Just as she walks passed the mercenary, she slams her foot into the back of his knee, knocking him off-balance. Sam rushes forward and pulls the assault rifle out of Jonas’ hands. Using the grip of the gun, he slams it across the man’s face, leaving him dazed and gasping on the ground. For good measure, Sam hits the mercenary again, breaking his nose.

“Go,” Sabina says.

Sam looks at her, opens his mouth to tell her something.

“Go! Get out of here.”

“Thank you,” he says. Without another moment to spare, Sam sprints out of the alcove.

Sabina gives him a head start. She waits for thirty seconds, before making her move. Clutching a fake bruise on her side, she stumbles out of the alcove, yelling at the top of her lungs. “Help! I need help! Rafe!”

A couple of mercenaries run towards her. “What’s going on?”

“I—I don’t know,” she says, gasping for air. “It all happened so fast—oh, my god, Jonas—Jonas is in there.”

“Sabina?” Rafe says, running towards her. “Honey, what happened?”

“Sam! He—he escaped!”

He directs his gaze to the mercenaries. “Find him,” he says.

“I’m sorry,” Sabina says. “I tried to stop him, but I couldn’t and he—he had a gun. I didn’t know what to do.”

Holding the sides of her face in his hands, Rafe leans down to press a kiss on her forehead. “It’s okay, honey. Are you okay? Did he hit you?”

“I got tangled up in the fight,” she says. “But I’ll be fine.”

“Okay, good,” he says, nodding. “He’s probably heading for the treasure. We need to go catch up.”

“Are you serious right now?”

“We are so close. We’re practically right there. Just need to beat him to it.” Rafe grabs onto her hand, pulling her along with him.

They rush down the tunnel, heading for where the boats are docked. As they enter the area, Sam is driving away with one of the boats. Rafe drags Sabina towards Nadine, whom is loading up a boat with treasure.

“Sam just stole our goddamn boat,” Rafe says. “He’s headed for Avery’s ship. Come on.”

“Let him,” she says. “We’re done.”

Rafe looks at her, confused. “We’re done?”

“Most of my men are dead, Rafe. And those who aren’t have already left.”

“Can you see that?” Rafe asks, pointing in the direction of Avery’s ship. “The end is literally in sight.”

“That maniac pirate of yours has rigged this entire cave. I’m not setting foot on his ship.”

“Nadine, if you cut and run right now, the loss of all your men—everything that we’ve done—is for nothing.”

Nadine points to the raft on her left. “We have millions in gold, right here. I’d say that, plus our lives, is something.” She steps around Rafe, moving to finish getting the raft ready for departure.

“No wonder so many of your men abandoned you,” Rafe says.

Nadine turns to look at him. “Excuse me?”

Sabina glances at the mercenary standing behind her, alerted by the sound of him adjusting his grip on his gun.

Rafe steps away from her, approaching Nadine. “We’re on the verge of making history here, and you’re willing to just walk off with a pittance, a fraction what Sam’s gonna get from that boat.”

“If he can walk away from that ship alive, he can have it,” Nadine says. “Hell, I’d say he’s earned it. God knows you didn’t.”

A moment of stillness, and then—

Rafe slaps Nadine across her face. “Now look,” he says, following another brief pause. “We can stand here and insult each other all day, or we can finish what it is that we—”

Nadine interrupts him, slamming her fist into his stomach. She shoves Rafe onto the ground and then aims her pistol at him.

“Rafe!” Sabina rushes to his side.

“Oh,” Nadine yells, “we’re finishing it all right—” The sound of a gun being cocked pulls her attention away from the man.

“Sorry, ma’am,” the mercenary says, with his gun aimed at her.

Sabina helps Rafe onto his feet, double checking him for any other injuries.

“Yeah… the thing about mercenaries, Nadine,” he says. “Their loyalty, it’s bought. It’s not earned. Now, come on. Either we finish this thing together, or we can just end it right here.”

Sabina lifts her eyes, meeting her gaze with the other woman. “Just get in the boat, Ms. Ross,” she says. “Please, nobody else needs to die right now.”

Nadine glances down at her weapon, before slowly lowering it. “Let’s go make history,” she says, tucking the gun away.

“Atta girl,” Rafe says, gesturing towards the boat.

When Sabina and Nadine make eye contact once again, Sabina mouths, “I’m so sorry.”

Nadine holds her gaze for a moment, before climbing into the boat.

**September 2002**

Growing up, she had never imagined what her wedding might look like. She had never pictured her dress, the venue. She had never thought about who would be waiting for her at the end of the aisle. Getting married had always seemed like an event that would be too extravagant and… depressing. She had no one to walk her down the aisle. No family to invite. Her friendships had always been rather brief, dependent on where she was traveling and if they could help her get what she was looking for.

People kept telling her that her wedding would be one of the happiest days of her life.

Yet, she had never felt so isolated from everyone.

Standing on a raised platform, Sabina stares at her reflection in the large trifold mirror. Her head feels heavy, stuffed full with curled extensions that are pulled up into an intricate bun. Her lace cathedral veil is pinned into place, once again. In her nerves, Sabina has already tugged it out of position five times. The strings of her corset are pulled tight, constricting her ability to breathe. She wants to tear them out, wants a breath of fresh unrestrained air, but it’s too late for that now. Fiddling with her diamond ring, Sabina resists the urge to smooth down the organza fabric of her dress.

When she had first put on the ivory off-the-shoulder ball gown, she had felt like a fool, like she was undeserving of the dress. The fabric was covered in thousands of crystals, each of which were carefully positioned by hand. The crystals were arranged in complex floral designs and placed beneath a layer of organza. This dulled their shine, creating the softer, ethereal sparkling effect that Sabina had wanted. But still, she had felt that this dress was too glamorous.

Upon seeing her, Rafe’s mother had surprised her with tears. Telling her that the dress was perfect, made for her. And in that moment, Sabina had also cried. Was this how her own mother would have reacted? Would she be in agreement with Mrs. Adler? Or would she have longed to see Sabina in a different silhouette? Marrying a different man?

“Miss Hewitt,” the wedding planner’s voice captures her attention. “I don’t want to rush you, but we are behind schedule. Your groom is starting to get a bit nervous.”

“Ten more minutes,” Sabina says.

“Miss Hewitt,” she sighs. “Your guests have already been waiting for an hour.”

Sabina shakes her head. Subconsciously, her fingers grasp onto the edge of her veil. “Just give him ten more minutes,” she says. “He’ll be here.” And once again, the material is pulled out of place.

The woman frowns, giving Sabina a pitying look. “I understand that you want him to walk you down the aisle, Miss Hewitt.” She snaps her fingers at the hair stylist, prompting them to get up and work on resecuring the veil. “However, Mr. Drake didn’t show up for the rehearsal yesterday.”

“Maybe he mixed up the times,” Sabina says. “Or… Or he’s stuck in traffic.” She winces when the stylist stabs her scalp with one of the pins.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think he’s coming.”

The door to the dressing room opens and an older woman steps into the room. With her red lips pulled into the slightest hint of a frown, she asks, “Is something wrong?”

“Mrs. Adler,” the wedding planner greets. “Miss Hewitt has been insisting that we wait for Nathan Drake’s arrival, even though I have told her several times that it is extremely unlikely that he will be in attendance.”

Sabina sighs, closing her eyes. “Just ten more minutes,” she says, before taking a deep breath. “I just want ten more minutes.”

“Miss Hewitt—”

“Give her the ten minutes,” Mrs. Adler says. When her eyes settle on Sabina’s reflection, the sharp contours of her face soften. “I would like a moment of privacy with Sabina.”

Without further instruction, the wedding planner, the hair stylist, and the makeup artist all hurry out of the room. The bridesmaids, dressed in mauve colored chiffon gowns, are quick to follow.

“Are you okay?” Mrs. Adler approaches the bride, taking great care to avoid stepping on the much-too-long train of her dress.

Sabina opens her mouth to speak, but the words are caught in her throat. Instead, she rests her hands against her stomach, hoping to appease the stabbing sensations coming from inside.

“A wedding can feel overwhelming,” the woman says. “I was a mess for my own day. In my heart, I knew that I was marrying the right person, but I still had my doubts. I had a bit of a freakout, myself. Locked myself in a bathroom, for half an hour, and debated about the pros and cons of marriage. It’s okay to be nervous, Sabina. Most brides are. But I wonder if there is something else bothering you, something beyond nerves.”

Sabina swallows a lump in her throat.

“Your life has been deprived of a mother figure,” Mrs. Adler continues. “If it’s alright with you, I can be that figure for you. You are family now, my dear. You can talk to me. I will listen.”

“God, there’s just so many people here,” Sabina gasps.

“Rafe was a bit generous with the guest list,” Mrs. Adler agrees. “Is that why you’re upset?”

“To be honest,” Sabina says. “I’ve never put much thought into a wedding. I never imagined that I would be walking into a room full of hundreds of strangers. Everyone is here for Rafe, aren’t they? They’re not here for me. I’m just a show.”

“Tell me why you are here.”

The bride frowns, confused. “To get married.”

“Then you are here for Rafe,” Mrs. Adler says. “Not for your guests. And Rafe, Rafe is here for you. He is waiting at the end of the aisle,” she smiles, “for you. Forget about the people who have come to watch. The truth is that most of them are not really here for Rafe. They are here to keep up appearances, to maintain a good impression. When you reach the end of the aisle, you will forget all about those strangers.”

Sabina turns to look at the woman and gives her a small smile. “Thank you,” she says.

“I have a gift for you,” Mrs. Adler says. She reaches for wrist, unclasping a gold bracelet lined with rubies. “I was planning to give it to you after the ceremony, as a little ‘welcome to the family’ gift, but I think that it would be better for you to have it now.” The woman reaches out for Sabina’s left hand, pulling it towards her, and then secures the jewelry around the wrist.

“It was my mother’s,” Mrs. Adler continues. “She gave it to me on my wedding day. And now I continue that tradition and give it to you.”

“Mrs. Adler—”

“Gemma. Call me Gemma.”

“Thank you, Gemma.”

“I will give you a few minutes to compose yourself,” Gemma says. “Wipe away those tears, yes?”

Sabina nods.

Just moments after Rafe’s mother exits the dressing room, the door reopens.

“Holy shit,” a man says. “Look at you.”

Through the reflection in the mirror, Sabina sees him. She gasps and turns to look at the man, “Sully?”

“Hey, there, kiddo,” he says, approaching her. “You know, I had a feeling you would be a stunning bride, but you’ve exceeded my expectations.”

“It’s the dress,” she replies. “A forty-seven thousand dollar custom made gown.”

“That’s some serious cash,” Sully whistles. 

“This is just the ceremony gown. The reception dress is even more.” Sabina shakes her head. “I can’t even believe I’m wearing something so expensive.”

“You are marrying Rafe. Did you expect anything less?”

“I’m glad you’re here, Sully,” Sabina smiles. “I wasn’t sure if you were going to make it. I know that you and Rafe are… far from friends.”

“I wouldn’t miss your wedding, kid,” he says. “But what are you still doing back here? Not that I don’t enjoy the sight, but you’re starting to make Rafe sweat out there.”

“I invited Nate,” she says. “God, I even asked him to walk me down the aisle.”

Sully nods, beginning to figure out the problem. “Nate’s not here, is he?”

“I think I always knew that he wouldn’t show,” the bride sighs. “I just wanted to be wrong. I know that he hates Rafe, but I thought that maybe—just maybe—he would show up for me.”

“He’s still coping,” Sully says. “Won’t even mention… Sam… nowadays.”

Sabina hums. “Me, too,” she admits. “Sully, am I crazy? Just two years ago, I was willing to drop everything and run off with Sam. And now I’m here, getting married to somebody else. What if I’m making a mistake? Maybe that’s why Nate’s not here? Maybe he thinks that I’ve forgotten about Sam or that I’m closing off that part of my life.”

“Hey,” Sully steps forward and holds onto Sabina’s hands. “No one blames you for moving on with your life. There’s nothing we can do to change what happened.”

“I know, but—”

“Do you love Rafe?”

“Yes.”

“And does he make you happy?”

Sabina nods.

Sully gives her a reassuring smile. “It’s okay to let go of Sam,” he says. “You deserve a life of happiness, especially after everything that you’ve been through.”

Before she can stop herself, the question spills through her lips. “Will you walk me down the aisle?”

“Of course,” Sully says.

“Thank you,” Sabina wraps her arms around the man’s neck, pulling him in for a tight hug.

**December 2015**

Heat tingles against her skin. 

Prickling. 

Stinging. 

As she breathes, she coughs. Her lungs are stuffed, filled with ashes. When Sabina is finally able to open her eyes, she sees a world of red. She blinks, trying to clear the blurriness of her vision. Sabina groans, rolling onto her back.

She hears a voice yelling for someone… yelling for… Sam?

“Hey, Nate,” a different voice says.

She turns her head to look for the source of the sound. Through the haze, she can see the outline of a man, her husband. In Rafe’s hand is a gun, raised and pointed in front of him.

The first voice replies, “Where is Sam?”

Sabina tilts her head, releases a gasp in pain, and looks at the other man. Nate has his own gunned pointed back at Rafe.

“Oh, he’s right there.” Her husband looks over to his left, where Sam is trapped and unconscious beneath a wooden beam.

“Sam!” Nate calls.

“Relax, he’s alive,” Rafe says. “You know, this idiot nearly got us all killed.”

Oh.

That’s right.

The explosion.

Sam… Sam had caused it, had—

“I’m getting him outta here,” Nate says.

“No, you’re not.”

“Rafe, you can have the treasure, alright? Just let me save my brother.”

Her husband laughs, shaking his head in disbelief. “After everything he’s done? How noble of you, but no.”

“We stay here any longer and we’re all dead,” Nate says. “Is that what you want?”

“That’s not what I said. What do you think, Nadine?”

The Shoreline leader steps in through the doorway and descends the short staircase. Her gun is pointed in Nate’s direction.

Sabina pushes her back off of the uneven wooden floor, moving into a sitting position. The back of her head is burning, throbbing. Pressing her fingertips into her hair, she winces when they make contact with an open wound that’s soaked in some sort of liquid. “Fuck,” she whispers. Sabina brings her hand in front of her face, stares at the warm blood coating her finger tips.

“Good to see you up and about,” Rafe says. “Be a dear and relieve Nate there of his gun.”

“Hand it over,” Nadine says, approaching Nate.

“You really think you can trust him? Huh?” Nate says.

“Not your concern.”

Ignoring the trio, Sabina crawls towards the unconscious Drake brother. “Sam,” she calls, shaking his shoulder. She tries to lift up the wooden beam that has him pinned down, but it doesn’t move. “Sam, wake up. Sam?”

“Now, why are you trying to instigate? Nate—” Rafe says, stepping closer to the mercenary. “Nadine and I are partners, I don’t screw over my partners.”

Nadine takes the gun out of Nate’s hand. Slowly, she starts to back away.

“Get over there,” Rafe orders, pointing his gun towards the other end of the room. “You and your brother though… Right from the start, you took advantage of my generosity. You tried to cut me out and it’s high time you learned—”

Nadine presses the barrel of her gun against the back of Rafe’s head.

“What are you doing?” He asks.

“Now you give me your gun,” she says.

“Sam,” Sabina whispers again. “C’mon, wake up.” She shakes him once more, more aggressive, more insistent. “I need your help.”

Sam’s eyelids twitch, but nothing else moves.

Rafe scoffs, “Nadine.”

She interrupts him with the cock of her gun. “I won’t ask you again.”

The man sighs, then surrenders the gun. “You are being profoundly stupid right now,” Rafe says. He steps away from Nadine and rubs the back of his neck.

“Look over there,” she says, indicating to her right.

“Nadine,” Rafe says, stepping closer to her. “Stop screwing around—”

The mercenary angles her gun down towards the floor, shooting a bullet between his feet.

Sabina screams at the noise, startled.

“Jesus!” Rafe yells.

“I said look!”

“Okay,” he says. Rafe glances over. “It’s a couple of skeletons. So what?”

“I don’t know as much about history as you boys,” Nadine says, “but I’ve got a pretty good idea who those two are.”

“Well,” Rafe says, “enlighten us.”

“It’s Avery and Tew,” Nate explains. “They killed each other.”

Rafe glances over at Nate. “Good for them. What’s the point?”

“Everyone obsessed with this treasure gets what they deserve,” Nadine says. She takes a step back, working her way back up the stairs.

“So what,” Nate calls. “You’re just leaving us here to die?”

“Oh, I’m just leaving,” she responds. “Whether you die or not, I don’t really care.”

“Nadine,” Rafe says. “Don’t.”

The mercenary ignores him, turning her gaze to focus on the other woman. “Sabina,” she says. “If you want to get out of here, come with me.”

“What?” Sabina lifts her head to look at Nadine.

“You don’t need to burn alive with all of these dickheads,” she explains.

“Are you kidding me right now?” Rafe chuckles. “You two have been fighting for weeks—”

“Shut up, Rafe,” Nadine says.

“—and now you wanna be best friends?”

Sabina shakes her head, unsure of what to do. “Nadine, I—”

“Make your choice. Now. I’m going to leave, with or without you.”

“I can’t—I can’t just leave them here,” Sabina says.

“You deserve better than this,” Nadine sighs. “Goodbye, Sabina.”

“Nadine,” Rafe says, moving towards her. “Wait—”

“So long, Rafe,” she says, before pulling the door shut and locking it.

“Nadine! Nadine!” He yells. Rafe slams his fists against the wood. “You open this goddamn door right now!”

“Rafe,” Nate shouts. “She’s gone!” He crouches down next to Sabina, eyes focused on the same wooden beam that she has been struggling to lift. “C’mon, give me a hand. We’ll all get out of here.”

“Oh, no,” Rafe says, pacing around in the corner of the room. “No, that won’t work.”

“I’ve been trying to wake him up,” Sabina looks over at Nate. “But he just hasn’t been responsive.”

“It’s okay,” Nate says, placing a comforting hand on Sabina’s forearm. “C’mon,” he calls to Rafe. “Help me with Sam and I’ll help you open the door.”

Together, Sabina and Nate attempt to life the beam, but struggle with the weight.

“No,” Rafe says.

“Rafe,” Sabina lifts her head to look at her husband. “For god’s sake, just help us.”

He reaches for a sword lodged into one of the skeletons and pulls it out. “I’m not going to be able to enjoy one of these coins, knowing that you and your worthless brother are still sucking air.”

Seeing the sword in Rafe’s hand, Nate stands up and starts to back away. “Alright,” he says. “Just… Just calm down. You can practice your fencing when we get outside.”

“Nate, just shut up,” Rafe says.

“What the hell are you doing?” Sabina says, standing up.

“Seriously, Rafe,” Nate says. “This is insane, even for you.”

“You want to hear insane? _Nathan Drake raced a madman and his entire army to the steps of Shambhala._ ” Rafe takes a step forward and swings his sword at Nate.

“Jesus!” Nate curses, dodging the weapon.

“ _Nathan Drake found a lost city in the middle of the Rub’ al Khali desert._ ” Rafe swings the sword again. This time the blade slices through Nate’s shirt, breaking the skin of his chest.

Sabina takes a cautious step forward. “Rafe, please. Put the sword down.”

But the man ignores her, opting to attack Nate once again.

Nate leaps back, barely avoiding the blade. “God damn it—come on, we can get out of here together.”

“ _Nathan Drake discovered the fabled El Dorado._ ” Rafe lunges at Nate, swiping the blade twice at the man. With the second swing, the edge of the sword slices across Nate’s chest, leaving behind a new, shallow wound. Again, Rafe attempts to cut into the other man’s skin.

“C’mon Rafe, stop,” Nate says.

“ _Nathan Drake is a legend,_ ” Rafe laughs. “You know, I shot the man who told me that.”

“Look, I get it. You don’t like me very much.”

“You know, for all your ‘greatness,’ Nate, you have nothing. You are nothing. And I warned you to get out of my way.”

“Stop it!” Sabina screams. She charges into Rafe, shoving him away from Nate. “Rafe, babe, I need you to calm down.”

Rafe hardly spares her a glance, instead moving to step around her.

“Please,” Sabina clutches onto his arm, a poor attempt to hold him back. “Don’t do this.”

He pulls his arm out of her grasp and pushes his wife away from him.

Losing her balance, Sabina stumbles and crashes into a pile of debris near Sam’s body. A jagged piece of metal pierces into the skin of her left arm, leaving her with long gashes. Blood spews out of the wounds, sliding down her flesh and onto the floor. She whimpers, pain pulsating throughout her body.

Eyes focused solely on Nate, Rafe is unaware of what he has caused. He swings the blade at Nate, leaving several more cuts on his chest and arms.

Dodging the sword, Nate grabs onto Rafe’s arm and punches him in the face with his free hand. With both hands firmly gripped onto the arm, Nate struggles to maintain control in the fight. He forces Rafe up against a wall, but Rafe slams his forehead into Nate’s, sending him stumbling backwards.

Rafe seizes the opportunity, pushing his opponent down onto the ground. Fighting against Nate’s resistance, Rafe attempts to shove the blade down into the man’s neck. “I have sacrificed everything to find Avery,” Rafe says. “And I’m not gonna let a couple of two-bit thieves, a senile con man, and a washed-up journalist take that away from me!”

“Enough!” Nate pushes back against Rafe, shoving the man off of him. He reaches to the right and wraps his fingers around the handle of another sword.

“You care about that parade of losers so much,” Rafe says, circling Nate. “I’m going to make sure they join you.”

Sabina presses her hand against the fresh wound, unsure of how to slow the bleeding. “Oh, fuck,” she mutters, “shit.” The liquid seeps through her fingers, mingling with the once drying blood of her head injury.

“En garde, dickhead,” Nate says.

“That’s the spirit,” Rafe smiles.

Nate lunges at him, slamming his sword at the man. The two blades clash against each other and Rafe jumps out of Nate’s reach. When Rafe swings his sword at Nate, the Drake brother rams his elbow into Rafe’s nose and then kicks him in the chest. Rafe stumbles back, hitting the wall behind him. Nate swings again, but this time Rafe kicks the man away from him. He takes a step forward, aiming to slice through Nate’s throat, but Nate blocks him just in time.

Starting to get dizzy, Sabina lays down on the floor. She lifts her wounded arm, forcing herself to take a better look at the cuts. Droplets of blood splatter against her cheeks.

Sabina closes her eyes.

_Daddy!_

She’s a little girl again, running into the outstretched arms of her father.

_Daddy, you’re home!_

She wraps her arms around his neck, nearly tackling him down into the ground.

 _Hey, sweetheart,_ he says. _You should be asleep._ He secures his arms around Sabina and lifts her up into the air.

 _No,_ she shakes her head. _No, I missed you._

 _I missed you, too._ He presses a kiss against her cheek. _But you know that Daddy has a lot of work to do._

_No, no more work._

_Sweetheart—_

_Why do you always leave? I don’t want you to leave anymore._

Her father sighs. _My work is important. I’m going to find something amazing, sweetheart. And when I do, I promise that I won’t ever have to leave you again._

_Daddy, please—_

Richard Hewitt collapses.

Becomes a bleeding corpse, staining the hardwood floors.

And young Sabina hides beneath the planks, her tiny hands covering her mouth. Eyes are wide, staring at the blood leaking through the cracks, the crevices. 

It splatters against her cheeks.

_Why couldn’t you pick me?_

“—Bina!”

Somebody is shaking her.

“Bina, open your eyes.”

When they press a hand against her cheek, Sabina leans into the warmth.

“C’mon, baby, wake up.”

She opens her eyes and smiles at the sight of a familiar face. “Sam?”

“Yeah,” he says. “I’m right here, but I need you to get up, okay? Nathan and Rafe are about to kill each other and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.”

“Nate… Rafe?” Sabina blinks at him, unable to fully comprehend the words. “What?”

“Bina—”

She tunes out his voice, focusing her attention to the burning warmth surrounding her. When she turns her head to the left, her eyes grow wide. The muddied thoughts in her head dissipate, cleared by the view in front of her.

Rafe swipes his sword against Nate’s stomach and cuts through the fabric of his shirt. He strikes him in the chest with his foot, knocking him down onto his back. Sword pointed at Nate’s throat, Rafe takes a step forward.

“You know what, Nate? Underneath all the bravado, you’re just a sad little boy with delusions—of grandeur… who, by the way, can’t fence for shit,” he says.

Sabina rolls onto her knees, then stumbles up onto her feet. “Wait—”

Rafe raises his sword, ready to end the fight. “So long, Nathan Drake.”

“Nathan!” Sam yells, attracting the attention of both men. He grabs the handle of the sword laying near him and tosses it in Nate’s direction.

Nate grabs it and strikes the blade across Rafe’s own.

“You don’t know when to give up, do you? That’s good,” Rafe says, between each swing of his sword. “Don’t hand it to me. I’ve had everything handed to me on a goddamn silver platter. Everything except this!”

Nate whips his sword in front of him to block another powerful strike, but Rafe’s blade breaks the metal.

“I earned this,” Rafe says. “All of it.”

**September 2012**

If you ask Sabina to picture her idea of romantic vacation, this is what she would tell you. A candlelit dinner at a truly exquisite, but probably overpriced, restaurant. Walking through the Paris streets, long after dusk. Sharing bottles of wine between giggling, messy kisses. Falling into a comfortable, happy slumber with the love of her life.

But getting everything that you want is impossible.

And for her tenth wedding anniversary, Sabina spends it without her partner. Drunk in her Parisian hotel room, staring at the blurry lights outside of her windows. Her cheeks are swollen. Eyes are puffy and dirty from smeared mascara and navy blue eyeliner. Brunette hair tangled and pulled up into a lopsided bun.

Rafe was supposed to be here. Was supposed to meet her in Paris over a day ago. But her husband had canceled, saying that an issue at work would require his immediate attention. Saying that he would make it up to her, whisk her away to a private island where no one could bother them.

She almost believes him.

When somebody knocks on the door to the suite, Sabina jumps off of the armchair and stumbles across the room. She throws open the door, and without a moment to pause, wraps her arms around the woman standing there.

Chloe Frazer. A fellow treasure hunter that she had met a couple of years ago. The two had become fast friends, bonding over a discussion about whether the treasure described in The Copper Scroll even existed. And if so, where it could possibly be.

“Oh,” the Australian woman says. “I’m happy to see you, too, love.”

Sabina’s words are slurred. “Chloe, I’m so… so happy you’re here.”

“C’mon, let’s get out of the hallway.” Careful, Chloe urges Sabina back through the door. Glancing around the hotel room, she sees shards of broken glass and puddles of red wine. Several partially consumed bottles lay flat on their sides, a source for many of the wine stains.

Sabina grabs onto one of Chloe’s hands and drags her to the dining table. “You must try this Caber… net Sau… Sauvig… non—Cabernet Sauvignon!” She picks up a bottle of wine and hands the whole thing to Chloe. “I must warn you, it’s very… very heavy on the cherry, but it is so good and… six hundred dollars?” Sabina laughs, “Wine is so expensive.”

Chloe grabs the bottle, notices that it is almost empty, and takes a sip. “Not bad,” she hums. “And how many bottles did you buy?”

“I don’t know,” she says. “A few. Maybe… ten.”

Mid-sip, Chloe chokes.

“It doesn’t matter,” Sabina continues. “It’s all Rafe’s fucking money anyway. He won’t even notice.”

“Can’t say I wouldn’t do the same, if I were you.”

Sabina picks up another bottle of wine and collapses onto the sofa. “I think he’s going to leave me,” she says.

Chloe frowns. “Why would you think that?”

“I think I’ve done something terrible.”

“Alright,” Chloe joins the woman on the couch. “Tell me what’s going on in that brain of yours.”

Sabina unclasps the chain around her neck and hands her medallion over to Chloe. “I solved it,” she says.

Chloe raises an eyebrow. “You… solved this?”

“Yes.”

“The mystery puzzle that you’ve been trying to solve for decades?”

“Yes.”

“Well,” Chloe takes another sip of wine. “I’m not sure how this is bad news, but we can come back to that. First, I wanna know how you solved it.”

“Right,” Sabina nods. She takes back the medallion and stands up.

The two women enter the bathroom, where Sabina tosses the medallion into the sink and then closes the drain. She downs a large gulp of wine, before pouring the rest of the contents into the sink.

After a couple of minutes, a dim light appears, glowing from the object. The wine in the sink moves in gentle waves, the liquid disturbed by something beneath the surface. Once the wine settles, Sabina reaches into the sink, retrieves the medallion, and sets it on the counter.

The object looks distorted, with portions of the gold metal jutting out of place. Many, but not all, of the symbols glow in a faint yellow color. The marking in the center, Avery’s sigil, is popped up and pushed away, revealing an inscription.

_The treasure you seek will only bring death._

“How the hell did you figure that out?”

“I don’t… I don’t think it’s a clue,” Sabina says.

Chloe picks up on the woman’s train of thought. “You think it’s a warning.”

“Yeah.”

“Have you told Rafe?”

Sabina leans against the bathroom wall and slides down to sit on the ground. “No,” she says, with a sigh.

“Okay, I’ll bite,” Chloe says. She grabs the medallion, before joining Sabina. “Why not?”

“I think he’ll leave me.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Because I want him to stop looking for it. I want him to let go of Avery’s treasure,” Sabina says. “If the warning is true, then I don’t want him to find it.”

“Have you tried telling him that?”

Sabina chuckles. “How do you tell someone to give up on the one goal that drives them to keep going every day? How do you tell them that you’re selfish and you need them to sacrifice their dream?”

Chloe sighs. “I don’t know,” she says.

“You know, I think I was in love with someone,” Sabina admits. “Before Rafe.”

“Oh?” Chloe turns to look at her.

“It was complicated,” Sabina pauses. She pushes strands of hair away from her face and blinks away the forming tears. “And I never really figured out my feelings.”

“Do you miss them?”

Sabina leans over to rest her head on Chloe’s shoulder. “He was also looking for Avery’s treasure,” she says. She takes the bottle of wine away from Chloe and drinks the remaining liquid. “It killed him. All he wanted wanted to do was find that treasure. Would’ve done anything for it. It’s strange, isn’t it? How all of the men in my life are obsessed with this stupid thing. I don’t think the question is if Rafe will die for this treasure. I think the question is when. When will Rafe join Sam and my father?”

“Tell him how you feel,” Chloe reaches forward, laying a comforting hand on Sabina’s knee. “He can’t read your mind.”

“What if he doesn’t want to listen?”

“Trying to force a man like Rafe to listen is probably impossible,” Chloe admits. “But if he really does love you, he will do so.”

“And if he doesn’t?” Sabina lifts her head to meet Chloe’s gaze. “If doesn’t love me?”

“Then maybe it’s time for you to move on, love.”

**December 2015**

Sabina slams her body into Rafe’s back. She wraps her arms around him, digging her nails into his chest. “No more,” she says, “let it go.” Rafe tries to pry one of her arms off of him, but Sabina tightens her grip. “I said stop!”

“No,” Rafe says. “I’m ending this. I’m taking what’s mine.”

“If you kill him,” Sabina takes a shallow breath. She still feels the wounds throbbing on her arm. Can still feel the blood oozing from the split skin, staining Rafe’s already dirtied shirt. “I will never forgive you.”

It’s subtle, but Rafe tenses at her words.

“If you kill him for this treasure,” Sabina continues, “then I will leave and you will never see me again.”

“Sabina—”

She buries her face into his back. “All of my life, I have never been enough. My father… Sam… they both picked the treasure. They both chose to leave me, no matter how much I begged them not to. And now you’re doing the same thing. But this time you found the treasure. It’s here—it’s in your grasp—and it’s still not enough for you. No, you can’t just have the treasure, can you? You want it all to yourself. All of the credit, the glory.”

“What are you talking about?” Rafe says. “This is ours. We worked for this.”

“No,” Sabina shakes her head. “This is your moment, not ours. It stopped being ours years ago. You can’t have it all, Rafe. You can’t have me and the treasure, not like this. I love you, I do, but I can’t do this. I can’t stand by and watch you be consumed by your hatred and jealousy.”

Slowly, he lowers the blade.

“I want you to pick me,” she says. “For once in my life, I want somebody to choose me. Only me. Please, I don’t want to lose you. Don’t make me lose you. Don’t let me lose somebody else I love.”

Rafe releases his grip on the sword, dropping the blade. He reaches for her injured arm and, gently, pulls it away from his chest. A frown on his face, he examines the wound before turning around to look at her.

Sabina blinks up at him, relieved.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers. “I’m so sorry.”

Slightly dizzy, Sabina leans into his body, pressing her forehead into the croak of his neck. “I know,” she says. “I know.” Too weak to stand any longer, she fully collapses into Rafe.

“Hey,” Rafe says, grabbing onto her. “Hey, honey? Honey, you okay?”

“I—”

Her words are interrupted by an explosion.

And within moments, the burning room is flooded with water.

…

The world is warm, comfortable. A light breeze tickles her nose and cheeks. In the distance, a woman laughs and children giggle. Sabina opens her eyes to the view of sunlight beaming at her through an open window. Her eyes shift, just a sliver, over to the left.

Sam is sitting there, slightly hunched over in his chair. His eyes are focused down towards his hands, down at a ring held between his fingers.

The ring he had given her.

“Hey,” Sabina says. It barely comes out as a whisper.

Sam jerks his head up. “Bina?”

She blinks, beginning the process of waking up. And that’s when she realizes that this environment is unfamiliar to her. She’s surrounded by plain, white walls. And the smell of sanitizer fills her nostrils. “Where… where am I? Where’s Rafe?”

When she tries to sit up in the bed, Sam jumps out of his chair and places his hands on her stomach and shoulder. “You’re in the hospital,” he says. “Rafe had to step out, handle some of your paperwork, but he’ll be back soon.”

“Is he okay?”

“Yeah, he’s fine. Don’t worry.”

“Wait,” Sabina says. “Are you okay? Is Nate okay? The—the explosion—oh, my god—”

“Everyone is fine, Bina. Just lay down.”

“But—”

“Lay down,” Sam says.

Sabina nods and relaxes back into the bed.

After taking a few deep breathes to calm her racing heart, she turns to look at Sam. “My ring,” she points at the object that’s still in his hands. “What…”

Sam sighs and rubs the back of his neck. “I didn’t think you would still have it,” he says. He leans forward, placing the ring on the bedside table. “Not after all of these years.”

“It was all I had left of you,” Sabina confesses. “I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of it.”

Sam gives her a small smile.

“Besides,” she says, “it looks like you stole my birds.“

He squints his eyes, confused. “What?”

The woman lifts her hand off the bed, pointing a finger at the birds tattooed on the left side of Sam’s neck.

“Oh, yeah,” he chuckles. A faint blush sprouts across his cheeks. “Yeah… Got it in prison. I didn’t know if I was ever going to see you again—I just—I thought it would be nice to have.”

“Nice to have, huh?”

“Your husband wasn’t too thrilled when he put the dots together.” Sam leans back in his chair, arms folded across his chest. “You know, matching tats and all. Wouldn’t shut up about how he’s married to you.”

“That sounds like Rafe,” Sabina laughs.

“Still can’t believe you’re an Adler now,” Sam says.

“Hewitt-Adler, actually. I hyphenated. Couldn’t quite let go of the family name, I suppose.”

Sam hums. “A lot changed when I was away.”

“Yeah,” Sabina agrees. “Things are different now.”

“Did you mean what you said at Libertalia?” Sam asks. “About us only being together because of Avery’s treasure?”

“Sam,” she whispers.

“Do you really believe that I would’ve just left you if we never found that treasure? Did you think that I didn’t love you?”

“Our relationship was… Everything happened so fast. It really was a bit of whirl-wind romance, wasn’t it?” Sabina says. “One day, I’m following a strange man into the dirtiest hotel room that I have ever seen. And then, with the blink of an eye, I’m having secret rendezvous with him whenever we can find an excuse to ditch his brother. Between chasing clues and traveling the world, where was the time for me to realize your feelings? How could I have known that you loved me? When you never told me those words? When it was clear that your priority would always be the treasure? I couldn’t compete with that, Sam.”

“Bina—”

“The answer,” she interrupts, “it was going to be yes. Yes, I would run away with you.”

Sam reaches out to hold Sabina’s hand. “I’ve never stopped thinking about you, Bina.”

“Answer me honestly, Sam,” she says. “Back on Avery’s ship, if you had been in Rafe’s place, would you have picked me?”

“Of course,” he responds, without hesitation. “Of course I would choose you.”

Sabina smiles at him, but her eyes are sad.

Longing to know what life would have looked like, had she been able to spend the past fifteen years with Sam.

“You have to let go,” she says. “The girl you love, it’s not the same person that I am now. You care about Sabina from fifteen years ago. The Sabina that… loved a life of adventure, with you. I think, if you had asked, she would have done anything for you. But the person you’re looking at now, she’s already let you go. I don’t know if I could love you again, not the way I used to, not the way you want me to.”

Sam sighs, “I know.”

“Hey,” she squeezes his hand. “We found the treasure, though. At least we accomplished something, even if it took a decade and a half.” Sabina turns her head to look at the beside table, focusing her gaze on the medallion. “I solved it, you know.”

“Really?” Sam raises an eyebrow and picks up the necklace. “When?”

“A few years ago.”

“What did it tell you?”

“Why don’t you keep it,” Sabina says. “Keep it and figure it out for yourself.”

“Are you sure? You parents—”

“Probably never even found it, if we’re being honest. I bet they stole it from someone. We’re all thieves, aren’t we?” She chuckles. “I’ve carried it around for so long, clutching onto terrible memories. I need to move on with my life. I don’t care what you end up doing with it, but please, just take it. I don’t want it, not anymore.”

Sam nods and slips the object into his pocket. “You gonna give me a hint on how to solve it?”

“You’re going to want a lot of red wine.”

The door to the room slides open, startling them.

“Get away from her,” a voice growls.

Sam jumps away from Sabina, hands held up in the air. “Okay, okay,” he says. “Jesus, we were just having a conversation.”

“Rafe,” Sabina smiles and attempts to sit up.

“Hey there, honey,” he walks up to the side of her bed and reaches for her hand. Rafe turns his head to look at Sam. “You can go now.”

“Are you kidding me? She just woke up.”

“Yeah,” Rafe says, “and now that she’s awake, we don’t need you here.”

“Oh, come on—”

“Get out,” Rafe snaps.

“Alright,” Sam responds. “I’ll just… go outside for a smoke.”

When Sam exits the room, Rafe directs his attention back to Sabina. “You feeling okay? Does anything hurt?”

“You picked me,” she says, ignoring his questions. “I wasn’t sure if you would.”

“I told you that I wanted to be with you, didn’t I?” Rafe says. “That hasn’t changed. I realize now that I’ve neglected you, but I never meant to make you feel like you weren’t enough for me.”

“You’re not entirely to blame. I should’ve just told you how I felt.” Her breath hitches, and she whispers, “Maybe all of this could have been avoided.”

Rafe shakes his head. “I’m not sure if I would have listened to you at any other moment.”

“But in the end, you listened. And right now, that’s all that matters,” Sabina smiles.

Her husband sits down on the edge of the hospital bed. “Where do we go from here?” Rafe asks, pushing strands of hair away from Sabina’s face.

She hums, enjoying his touch. “Do you remember our wedding day? How we hid in the dressing room’s bathroom during the reception?”

“Yeah,” he chuckles. “You said you were so tired of talking to an endless parade of strangers.”

“They were all so boring,” she says. “And all they did was congratulate us, before trying to impress you with some bullshit story about their life. I remember being so desperate to get out of that dress.”

“God, I remember all the damn buttons on the back.”

“It took you forever to undo them! I thought I was going to be stuck in that thing for the rest of my life,” Sabina laughs. “It was a very pretty dress, though. A mermaid style. Lots of lace. Oh! And the detachable train. I think I liked it more than the dress I wore for the actual ceremony.”

“I was too busy looking at you,” Rafe admits. “I can’t really remember what the dresses look like anymore.”

“Oh, my god. And your mother!” Sabina exclaims, remembering the night. “Do you remember how we were in the bathroom for so long that she ran around trying to track us down?”

Rafe laughs, “And she almost walked in, right as I got the dress off.”

“I had to throw my body against the door to keep it shut. Told her that I just needed a few minutes to myself. And then she asked if I had seen you—”

“—And you told her that I was probably out in the gardens.”

“We escaped through a window, didn’t we?”

“Did we?”

“I think so,” she says. “When your mother left, we walked out of the bathroom. I told you that I wanted to leave, start the honeymoon a little early, so you pulled a robe off of one of the chairs.”

“And then we climbed through the window,” Rafe says, nodding his head. “And we sprinted to the car.”

“I don’t think your mother ever really forgave me for that.”

“I think she was more upset with me, to be honest.”

“We need to work on our marriage,” Sabina says. “No more lying. No more secrets. We need to be open, to communicate, like we used it. We used to have so much fun, didn’t we, babe? I think we can be those people again.”

“I think so, too,” he agrees.

“But first,” Sabina grabs the front of his shirt, pulling him towards her. Brushing her lips against his, she says, “Let’s go back to Copenhagen. Relive those honeymoon memories.”

“Sounds like a good idea,” Rafe whispers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello~ Thank you for reading this fic! If you enjoyed what you read, please considering giving this piece a kudos and/or comment. I am a small author, so any and all responses boost my confidence and let me know that people are interested in my work. If you want to view more content, you can follow me on social media! All of my updates are published on Twitter and extra content (playlists/edits/info) are posted on Tumblr.
> 
> Like I said in the beginning note, I plan on exploring this universe more in the future. A one-shot focused on Sam, and set after the events of this story, is already in the works and will probably be the first follow-up to be released. I am unsure of when it will come out, but I promise that it's coming.
> 
> Twitter: VostaraFics  
> Tumblr: Vostara


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